Willamette University

Academic Programs

Willamette University is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and offers Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees and Doctorates in 35 majors. The undergraduate school is called the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Law and the Atkinson Graduate School of Management complete the university. Willamette University also offers a dual degree program where students can combine a BA with an MBA or a BA and JD in a compressed time period. Willamette is recognized for its programs in Music, Teacher Education as well as Law; although the largest programs are in Social Sciences (Economics and Political Science). Currently there are no online degree programs available. Willamette’s concise Mission statement says “Willamette University provides rigorous education in the liberal arts and selected professional fields. Teaching and learning, strengthened by scholarship and service, flourish in a vibrant campus community. A Willamette education prepares graduates to transform knowledge into action and lead lives of achievement, contribution and meaning.”

Student Life

Willamette University’s 2,800 students have dozens of clubs and club sports to select from based on interest, affinity or field of study. Students are contracted to live on campus in one of the 11 residence halls for 2 years before they are permitted to live off campus or in the on-campus apartments. The Cardinal and Old Gold Willamette Bearcats participate in NCAA Division III level in 11 sports. Notable in the athletics department’s history is that they played football at the University of Hawaii on December 6, 1941 and many student athletes saw the Pearl Harbor attack from their hotel the next morning. A tradition of incoming freshmen is to light a candle and set it afloat in the Mill Stream that runs through campus (forming a “W” in its path) and watch it float downstream. Students also become familiar with the school’s simple Core Values: “Willamette University is a community: 1. Of collaborative educators committed to rigorous education; 2. That cultivates an authentic engagement with place; 3. That promotes transformation of knowledge into action in ways that lead to lives of achievement, contribution and meaning.” This idea of contribution is captured in the school motto “Non nobis solum nati sumus” or Not unto ourselves alone are we born.