Western Washington University ranks 33rd nationally among the 100 “Best Buy Colleges and Universities” in a list compiled by Forbes Magazine.

Forbes Magazine, which has a circulation of over 900,000, ranks colleges and universities across the nation that provide the best education at the lowest possible cost to students.

“We are proud to offer an excellent education at an affordable cost. Providing access to higher education empowers citizens of our state – and our country – to deal with the complex challenges of the future,” said WWU President Bruce Shepard. “I thank our faculty and staff for their dedication to our students and their commitment to ensure Western’s academic quality is among the very best,”

The Forbes "America's Best College Buys" rankings are based on a formula that measures academic quality divided by costs to students.

Two other universities or colleges in the state of Washington also are on the list. The University of Washington ranks 30th and Washington State University 83rd. With zero tuition, the service academies (West Point, Air and Naval academies) score very well and are atop the list.

Western ranks ahead of a number of major colleges and universities, including: the University of Arizona, University of Virginia, University of Oregon, College of William and Mary, University of California, Davis, University of Maryland, University of Kansas and...

Western Washington University is 12^th on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of the nation’s top 20 green energy purchasers in higher education.

Western annually purchases 100 percent of its electrical energy from green sources via renewable energy credits (RECs).

Western was the only college or university in the State of Washington on the recently released EPA list.

The genesis for Western’s renewable energy program began more than five years ago when a small group of Western students set a goal of having Western obtain all of its electrical energy from a 100-percent renewable source. To meet that goal they proposed a student initiative to implement a fee that would offset the cost of purchasing renewable energy.

As a result of their efforts and significant research into renewable energy, Western moved to the forefront of the renewable energy field, becoming the first university in the country to implement a student fee for the purchase of green energy.

The student initiative passed in a spring 2004 election with 84.7 percent approval.  The WWU Board of Trustees approved the student fee, which went into effect in 2005 and which allows the university to offset all of its electricity use with purchases from renewable energy sources.

In spring 2010, the WWU student body voted overwhelmingly – more than 80 percent in favor – to renew the...

BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University is the highest-ranking public, master’s-granting university in the Pacific Northwest, according to the 2011 U.S. News & World Report college rankings. 

“While we are pleased to be recognized by this and other national rankings, the true measure of Western’s excellence is the quality of our programs and, consequently, the caliber of our graduates who are highly sought after by employers and who become leaders in their fields and communities. The active minds of our more than 100,000 alumni change the lives of the citizens of our state and nation in so many important and enduring ways,” said WWU President Bruce Shepard. “Our students realize their aspirations because of our dedicated, gifted and inspiring faculty and staff.”

Western also is ranked third among top public master’s-granting universities in the West, a region stretching from Texas to the Pacific.

And Western was among the top colleges in its category in the West for a high percentage of freshmen students returning to school the following fall. See freshman retention rates.

U.S. News has separate categories for “national” (doctoral-granting or...

Incoming students and their families stop in Haskel Plaza for a campus tour during Summerstart, WWU’s orientation program that lasts through Thursday.

During the two-day Summerstart sessions, incoming freshmen engage in academic advising and campus orientation while registering for fall classes and getting to know what WWU has to offer. Their families, meanwhile, can learn more about Western’s academic programs and support services while getting advice on how best to support their students’ college careers.

Earlier in the summer, New Student Services and Family Outreach hosted Transitions, an orientation program for transfer students and their families. Learn more about WWU’s New Student Services/Family Outreach program here: nssfo.wwu.edu/index.shtml.

By popular demand, Western Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance will present a special remount production of “Stories from Jim and Jo” at 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) Mainstage Theater.

A collaborative dance/theatre piece, “Stories from Jim and Jo” is an original work that explores the medical complications of Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis. Under the direction of storyteller/choreographer Pam Kuntz, WWU Dance faculty and New York theatre artist Ian Bivins, two Bellingham community members – Jim Lortz and Jo Pullen – share their stories about living with these debilitating diseases.

Originally premiered to sold-out audiences in May 2010, this special remount production is the inaugural event of the newly merged WWU Department of Theatre and Dance. The evening will feature “Stories from Jim and Jo” followed by a post show discussion with the actors and a reception open to the public.

Tickets for the evening are $10 general; $8 seniors; $5 for students, WWU faculty and staff. They may be purchased through the WWU Box Office at (360) 650-6146 or http://www.tickets.wwu.edu, as well as at Village Books and the Community Food Co-op.

The WWU Box Office is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and one hour prior to performances.

"Jim...

David Brancaccio, a longtime national business journalist and host and senior editor of NOW on PBS, visited Western’s Vehicle Research Institute Wednesday to videotape a feature on Western’s Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) team that completed a dramatic run all the way to the last days of competition in the finals of the Progressive Automotive X Prize.

Brancaccio, accompanied by a TV crew, is developing a national PBS documentary, set to air in November, called “Fixing the Future.” It will explore the future of a sustainable economy. Part of the documentary features the many sustainable aspects of the Bellingham community, including the cutting-edge work of the VRI and its Viking 45 car, which has achieved the equivalent of more than 110 miles per gallon with ultra-low emissions.

Brancaccio and the PBS crew spent a couple of hours Wednesday at the VRI, interviewing Viking 45 crew members and VRI Director Eric Leonhardt. Afterward, Branacccio said he was extremely impressed by the incredibly high quality of work of the students and by how the project had inspired them to think of the future and of themselves in a different way.

Dr. Roland L. “Larry” De Lorme, a former Western Washington University administrator and faculty member, died on Sunday, Aug. 1, at the age of 73.

A celebration of Larry’s life will be held in Aberdeen, his hometown, at 2 p.m. Aug. 21 at The Aberdeen Museum of History.

De Lorme held a number of positions at Western. He came to the university and the History Department in 1966. He served as department chair for most of 1971 to 1989 (others were in the position from 1974 to 1975 and from 1980 to 1984). He was the director of general studies in the Office of the Academic Dean, and he held various positions in the Office of the President/Provost, including provost and vice president for academic affairs from 1991 to 1998, except for the six months he spent as acting president between Ken Mortimer and Karen Morse.

De Lorme played a significant role in shaping the university. He started the Archives and Records Management graduate program, a program about which he was especially proud. He even recruited David Duniway, retired state archivist from Oregon, and Paul Kohl, retired commissioner of the National Archives, to teach in the program. He also brought in Bert Rhoads, the former Archivist of the United States. De Lorme also started the Historic Preservation graduate program and the American Cultural Studies program (then known simply as American Studies) at WWU. He helped found the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, and he assisted...

A handful of students from the Department of Engineering Technology in Western Washington University's College of Sciences and Technology helped man the pit crew for the UL-14 Sammamish Mortgage/WWU College of Sciences and Technology/GO NAVY hydroplane during this past weekend's Seafair event in Seattle.

The boat, driven by Paul Becker, took first place in the final of the Unlimited Lights class, narrowly beating Kayleigh Perkins, driver of the UL-72 Foster Care-Triad Racing Technologies hydroplane, at the finish line.

During the broadcast on KIRO TV-7, the announcers mentioned the WWU students, saying that they helped improve some of the boat's engineering.