The Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics at Washington and Lee University was established in 1905 and has been AACSB-accredited since 1927. It uniquely offers an accredited commerce school and programs full of the liberal arts tradition. Students experience an intimate and inclusive community of support, challenge, humility, fairness, and respect that is full of diverse experiences, the advancement of knowledge, innovative programs, and co-curricular events. The Williams School desires for their graduates to have developed into responsible, principled, engaged, bold, and independent global leaders who serve with excellence, live life to the fullest and make a positive impact on the world.
Education
The Williams School is made up of three departments: Accounting, Economics & Politics, and Business Administration. The Bachelors in Accounting and Business Administration both carry special attainments in Commerce. Students can also obtain a Bachelors in Economics or Politics. Some of the available interdisciplinary programs include Environmental Studies, Women’s & Gender Studies, and Poverty & Human Capability Studies.
To keep students from having to get loans, the University assures every student the financial assistance they need through scholarships, grants, and student employment. The Johnson Scholars program provides full tuition and housing for qualifying students and additional funding for research, summer internships, and volunteer experiences. Other scholarships include the Fulbright Award and the Goldwater Scholarship.
Williams’ students find numerous opportunities to experience an international education, first-hand, in many locations. There is also funding available and fellowships to support the cost of different trips. Students can intern and study for a semester in Singapore or Australia. They can study corporate social responsibility and sustainability in Denmark, the modern economy in the United Kingdom, or economics and politics in Kyrgyzstan.
Student Life
A variety of student organizations like the Entrepreneurship Society, Mock Convention, and the Real Estate Society help give students an incredible amount of hands-on experience and professional development. In the Microfinance Organization, students help provide small loans to budding entrepreneurs in developing countries. There are consulting projects with real organizations through the Student Consulting Group and opportunities to manage real capital in the Williams Investment Society.
Willis provides several field programs for students to travel to corporations to hear from and see, first-hand, how they run their businesses. Accounting students spend a day in Northern Virginia at PricewaterhouseCooper. The AdMarComm trip takes students to New York City for three days to marketing, advertising, and public relations firms, corporations, and nonprofits. The Investments trip also takes students to NYC to consult with corporations like Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg News, and the New York Stock Exchange. Political students can spend six weeks in Washington, D.C., to study and begin careers in government.
The Connolly Center for Entrepreneurship provides programs, activities, and advisement on how to start a business. Students compete in the Business Plan and Student Pitch competitions and attend workshops, seminars, and hear from keynote speakers at the Entrepreneurship Summit.