Whitman is an independent, coeducational, nonsectarian, residential liberal arts and sciences under-graduate college that combines academic excellence with an unpretentious Northwest culture and an en-gaging community. It first offered classes in 1882 and received its charter as a four-year, degree-granting college in 1883. In 1920 Whitman was selected for the Northwest’s second collegiate Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

Location: Historic Walla Walla in the scenic south-eastern corner of Washington. It is two-and-a-half hours from Spokane, four hours from Portland, and four-and-a-half hours from Seattle.

Student Body: 1,500. Coeducational, representing 45 states and 25 countries. About 70 percent of Whitman students live on campus.

Faculty: Ninety-nine percent of tenure-track faculty hold the Ph.D. or other appropriate terminal degree in the field. During recent years Whitman faculty have been recipients of awards such as the Graves Award in the Humanities and CASE Professor of the Year Award for Washington State. Members of the faculty have garnered honors and fellowships from Battelle Research Institute, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Fulbright Fellowships, Hughes Medical Institute, PEW Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and others.

Student-Faculty Ratio: 9 to 1.

Majors and Combined Plans: Forty-five depart-mental majors lead to a Bachelor of Arts degree. In addition, combined 3-2 engineering programs with approved ABET institutions; 3-2 oceanography and biology or geology with the University of Washington; 3-2 forestry and environmental management programs with Duke; 3-3 law program with Columbia Law School.

Off-Campus Studies: Opportunities for study in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Scotland, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thai-land, Turks and Caicos, Vietnam, as well as Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia urban semester programs. About 40 percent of the junior class pursue off-campus studies.

Career Planning and Professional Development: In addition to career counseling, the Student Engagement Center personnel assist students in gaining career-related experience by finding internships, summer jobs, on-campus and off-campus part-time jobs, post-graduate employment, graduate school exploration, and opportunities for community service. The center offers workshops and testing, and has a comprehensive website and a career library for student use.

Affiliations and Accreditations: Whitman College is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Accreditation of an institution of higher education by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities indicates that it meets or exceeds criteria for the assessment of institutional quality evaluated through a peer review process. An accredited college or university is one which has available the necessary resources to achieve its stated purposes through appropriate educational programs, is substantially doing so, and gives reasonable evidence that it will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Institutional integrity is also addressed through accreditation. Accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities is not partial but applies to the institution as a whole. As such, it is not a guarantee of every course or program offered, or the competence of individual graduates. Rather, it provides reasonable assurance about the quality of opportunities available to students who attend the institution. Inquiries regarding an institution’s accredited status by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities should be directed to the administrative staff of the institution. Individuals may also contact: Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, 8060 165th Avenue N.E., Suite 100, Redmond, WA 98052, by phone at (425) 558-4224, or their website www.nwccu.org. Whitman’s Department of Chemistry is accredited by the American Chemical Society.

Athletics: Whitman holds membership in the NCAA (Div. III) and the Northwest Conference. The college supports 14 varsity sports, seven for women and seven for men, with almost 20 percent of the student body participating in varsity athletics. More than 70 percent compete in varsity, club and intra-mural sports combined.

Alumni Support: Close to 50 percent of alumni annually contribute money or volunteer for the college. The participation rate of alumni financial support places Whitman among the leading colleges and universities in the United States in this category.

Financial Strength: Market value of endowment and outside trusts is more than $401 million, as of June 30, 2012.

Campus, Housing, and Facilities: Three blocks from downtown Walla Walla, the 100-acre campus has 18 academic, student service, and administrative buildings. Residential facilities include several coeducational halls, interest houses, one all-female hall (which also houses four sororities), and four fraternity houses.

Financial Aid: About 50 percent of Whitman students receive need-based aid. Whitman also maintains a merit-based scholarship program.

Cost: In 2013-14 $43,150 for tuition, $10,900 for room and board.