Submitted by Jeanne Steffener, Higher ED
Washington State University (WSU) – Everett opened it’s doors on August 18, 2017 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Hundreds of new students, potential students and those just interested in seeing Everett’s newest educational instutution stopped by for a tour.
The new building, a four-story structure (95,000 square feet of space), is located at 915 N. Broadway. The Fall term began August 21, 2017. The structure has taken over two years to construct and cost $64.6 million dollars to design and build. The building is projected to house around 1000 students. The building will have classes and programs of WSU-Puget Sound–Everett and EvCC’s University Center offering bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. Everett is WSU’s fifth campus along with Pullman, Spokane, Tri-Cities and Vancouver.
The project has taken years to materialize; stemming from legislation coming out of Olympia beginning in 2005, which paved the way for WSU’s decision to locate in Everett and including a financing mechanism for the structure.
Students will typically enter WSU-Everett with two years of education – Associate of Arts Degree from a community college. WSU calls this a “two plus two” model. The school will offer six degrees: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software engineering, data, hospitality business management and integrated strategic communication. In the future, the school is planning to have a program dealing with organic agriculture systems.
This new building establishes a strong, physical identity for WSU in the Puget Sound area and will stimulate more interest for prospective students. The potential increase of an academic population coming into the area could be a catalyst for new economic development in the North Everett area as well as encouraging a much needed revitalization to this part of town. In the future, we can imagine new types of shops, coffee houses, restaurants and other types of business catering to university students, professors and the myriad types of employment associated with a university town.
In the WSU degree programs at Everett, students will have:
- Convenience of a campus close to home with affordable tuition
- Expertise and resources of one of the nation’s top public research universities
- Businesses throughout the North Puget Sound area employing WSU graduates and actively looking for more
- Low student to instructional faculty ratio: 15 to 1
- Diverse community of men and women with a large share being multicultural
Cougar Advantage: Students are mentored by faculty, motivated by high-achieving peers, and supported by Cougs around the world. Once you are a Coug, you will have a network of supporters who will help you land your first job and open career doors.
If you are interested in opening a door to a promising future, pick up your phone and call 360-716-4888 to contact the Higher Education Department for more information or email us at highered@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov.