For more than a century, Western Kentucky University has provided quality education and public service to the Southcentral Kentucky region and beyond. The University’s vision is to be a leading American university with international reach, a vision evidenced by the increasing numbers of students and faculty who garner state, national and international honors. Today, WKU’s reach is truly global, from the number of international students and faculty who help diversify the campus to a significant number of research projects and partnerships with sister institutions from Africa to China. Through education and public service, WKU seeks to enhance the quality of life in the region, Commonwealth and beyond.
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WKU’s main campus is located in Bowling Green, Ky., a city with a population of 50,000, and located approximately 110 miles south of Louisville and 65 miles north of Nashville, Tennessee. U.S. Highway 31-W and Interstate 65 intersect with U.S. Highways 68 and 231 at Bowling Green, and the Cumberland and William H. Natcher parkways provide additional easy highway access to Bowling Green. In addition, WKU has extended campuses in Glasgow, Owensboro and Elizabethtown/Ft. Knox/Radcliff.
WKU’s undergraduate division provides four-year programs leading to the bachelor of arts, the bachelor of fine arts, the bachelor of general studies, the bachelor of science, the bachelor of science in nursing and the bachelor of music degrees. Students can choose from nearly 90 academic majors and 60 academic minors. A number of professional and pre-professional curricula provide additional options. Associate degree programs are offered leading to the associate of arts degree, associate of science degree, associate of applied science and associate of general studies degree. Three certificate programs are also offered. Consult the Undergraduate Catalog for more information.
Graduate Studies offers the master of arts, master of arts in education, master of business administration, master of science, master of music, master of public service, and the master of public administration degrees as well as specialist degrees and rank I and II programs. WKU offers a doctorate in Educational Leadership and a joint doctoral degree program in education with the University of Louisville. Consult the Graduate Studies Catalog for further information.
If you would like to become a part of the WKU family, visit the Admissions homepage.
Institutional Vision, Mission and Purpose
Vision
WKU—A Leading American University with International Reach.
Mission
Western Kentucky University prepares students to be productive, engaged leaders in a global society. It provides service and lifelong learning opportunities for its constituents. WKU is responsible for stewarding a high quality of life throughout its region.
Statement of Purpose
As a nationally prominent university, Western Kentucky University engages the globe in acclaimed, 
technologically enhanced academic programs. An inspiring faculty promotes entrepreneurial success and a unique campus spirit to attract an intellectually exciting and diverse family of the nation’s best students.
WKU provides students with rigorous academic programs in education, the liberal arts and sciences, business, and traditional and emerging professional programs, with emphasis at the baccalaureate level, complemented by relevant associate and graduate-level programs.
The University places a premium on teaching and student learning. WKU faculty engage in creative activity and diverse scholarship, including basic and applied research, designed to expand knowledge, improve instruction, increase learning, and provide optimum service to the state and nation. The University directly supports its constituents in its designated service areas of Kentucky with professional and technical expertise, cultural enrichment, and educational assistance. The University encourages applied research and public service in support of economic development, quality of life, and improvement of education at all levels, especially elementary and secondary schools. In particular, WKU faculty contribute to the identification and solution of key social, economic, scientific, health, and environmental problems within its reach, but particularly throughout its primary service area.
Maintaining a campus of distinctive history and character, WKU sustains a student population of increasing quality. It fulfills its responsibility for access through its Bowling Green Community College, regional campus programs in Glasgow, Owensboro and Elizabethtown/Radcliff/Ft. Knox, and distance/on-line learning.
WKU's commitment is to ensure value in a holistic learning experience through high standards for student achievement and conduct, a strong faculty, technological innovation, personalized attention, broad access, and public accountability for actions and outcomes.
WKU recognizes that its mission continues to evolve in response to regional, national, and global changes, and the need for lifelong learning.
WKU From The Beginning
WKU has been an educational leader since its beginning. Its roots come from the Southern Normal School of 
Bowling Green, and WKU has been broadening horizons throughout the region since its founding in 1906.
The school's first president, Henry Hardin Cherry, expressed a theme for WKU’s educational commitment that is a constant inspiration to faculty, students and alumni: "The Spirit Makes the Master."
WKU grew in distinction with each decade. The institution changed locations, acquired other schools and became a teacher's college by 1922. In 1948, the school was elevated to Western Kentucky State College by the Kentucky General Assembly. Acquiring Bowling Green Business University, WKU achieved university status in 1966.
As a university, WKU has produced educational opportunities to more than 110,000 alumni who proudly call WKU "the home of the Hilltoppers."
WKU's main campus crowns a hill overlooking the city of Bowling Green and is proclaimed as one of the most beautiful in the nation.