Recent accomplishments advance Drive to 25

 
Under the leadership of President Kirk Schulz, the University has made significant progress the last three years toward its goal of becoming one of the nation’s top 25 public research universities. In fact, due to a series of watershed accomplishments in recent years, WSU is poised to enter an era of unprecedented opportunities. Among the most notable milestones:

• The University enrolled a record 31,607 students system-wide fall semester. Some 30 percent were ethnically diverse, and about 33 percent were first generation college students.
• Private gift giving topped $145.8 million during FY 2019, making it the third-best fundraising year in WSU history. Nearly 50,000 donors made gifts.
• The University achieved record research and development expenditures in FY19 that totaled a projected $370 million. WSU faculty rank seventh among 21 peer institutions in total R&D expenditures per tenure-track faculty—outcompeting faculty from Purdue, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, the University of Illinois, and Michigan State University in this metric.
• The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities recently reaffirmed WSU’s accreditation through 2025. The University received six commendations, including commendations for the fostering of a strong esprit de corps and for its approach to assessing student learning outcomes.
• The Washington legislature demonstrated a vote of confidence in the University during its last session, earmarking more than $100 million for capital projects across the WSU system.
• The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine welcomed its third class of medical students to the Spokane campus fall semester. Women make up 54 percent of the class.