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Washington State University Vancouver is located on the homelands of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and Peoples of the Lower Columbia Valley. The land that �鶹��ý resides on continues to be integral to the lives and cultures of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and People of the Lower Columbia Valley, their descendants, and that history is tied to this land since time immemorial.

The quest for access to higher education results in �鶹��ý’s establishment

Before Washington was a state

The residents of Southwest Washington have long been concerned about lack of higher education in the region. Reportedly, before Washington became a state, the territorial government designated 1,500 acres in what is now Southwest Washington for a land-grant institution. Unfortunately, the Morrill Act of 1862, also known as the Land Grant College Act, applied only to states and not to territories.

Washington gained statehood on Nov. 11, 1889, and on March 28, 1890, Washington’s Land Grant College was established by the state legislature. In April 1891, Pullman was chosen as the site of the new college.

Decades passed and the issue of access to higher education in Southwest Washington went unresolved. Then in 1933, Clark College was founded as a private, two-year junior college. Although it was a step in the right direction, the region still had no four-year or graduate education.

In the 1960s, citizens in Southwest Washington participated in a statewide initiative to create the next four-year school in Washington. Southwest Washington lost out to Olympia, which is now home to The Evergreen State College.

The need grows

The need for a four-year and graduate institution became even more important with the expansion of the high-tech industry in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area in the 1980s. The high-tech companies and economic development leaders made it clear they needed employees with appropriate degrees to fill positions. Without a qualified local population, businesses were recruiting from outside the area and paying for relocation. They claimed this region’s high-tech expansion was the only one in the country developing without a higher education research partner. And, they warned, continued growth would depend on a generally well-educated populace.

Baby steps

In September 1983, the Southwest Washington Joint Center for Education—a collaboration of Clark College, The Evergreen State College and Washington State University—began offering classes in the north wing of Hudson’s Bay High School to 18 graduate students. The Joint Center offered graduate courses in engineering and computer science along with some general undergraduate classes. It filled a gap, but didn’t solve the problem.

A university is born

Finally, after more than 125 years of wrestling with the issue of higher education, the state legislature founded Washington State University Vancouver on May 10, 1989 to increase access to higher education in Southwest Washington. Initially �鶹��ý served only graduate students and upper-division students (juniors and seniors) who transferred from community college. �鶹��ý operated from Bauer Hall on the Clark College campus.

According to the 1990 U.S. Bureau of the Census—at roughly the time of �鶹��ý’s founding—only 16.8% of persons 25 years and older living in Clark County had a bachelor’s degree or higher. The university had some work to do.

By spring 1995, �鶹��ý’s enrollment surpassed 850 students, and it was outgrowing its space in Bauer Hall. �鶹��ý moved to the Salmon Creek campus in 1996, opening with an administrative building, a library, a classroom building and a physical plant.

Making a difference

By the millennium, it was clear �鶹��ý was making a difference. The 2000 U.S. Census revealed that 22.1% of Clark County’s adult population held a bachelor’s degree or higher. While still lagging behind the state of Washington’s population overall at 27.7% and King County’s population at 40%, it was progress.

In 2004, the Washington State Legislature asked for a complete evaluation of the branch campuses and the policies associated with their creation. That study concluded that the campuses were having a major impact on their communities. Not only were people earning degrees, but, with more than 75% of them staying in the area after graduation, they were making their communities better places to live. Local employers were benefitting from a better-educated workforce, and local industries were beginning to benefit from research partnerships with �鶹��ý.

The study also concluded that for some students, especially those who were interested in pursuing degrees in engineering and science, a full four-year option was an important one. The legislature gave �鶹��ý permission to admit first-year and sophomore students beginning in fall 2006.

Today and beyond

Today 31.3% of Clark County’s adult population holds a bachelor’s degree or higher. And there are more than 18,000 �鶹��ý alumni, 95% of whom reside in the area. �鶹��ý alumni work at your bank, file your taxes, teach your children and so much more.

Going back to its roots and the reason for its founding, the university considers the opinions of current and potential students, and business and community leaders when deciding which programs will best meet the needs of students and businesses, with an eye toward growing the local economy.

Founded in 1636, Harvard University considers itself to be the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. In light of Harvard’s 388-year history, �鶹��ý’s 35-year history is miniscule. But in the words of Chancellor Emeritus H.A. “Hal” Dengerink on the occasion of �鶹��ý’s 20th anniversary, “The impact of �鶹��ý on the community is greater than the duration of its existence.”