WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Kalamazoo, Mich., U.S. It comprises Haworth College of Business, the Graduate College, colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education, Engineering and Applied Sciences, Fine Arts, and Health and Human Services, and schools of Social Work and Music. The Graduate College offers about 60 master's and more than 25 doctoral degree programs. Research facilities include a Van de Graaff particle accelerator and a pilot plant for paper manufacturing and printing. The university operates regional continuing education centres in Battle Creek, Saint Joseph, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Muskegon. Total enrollment is approximately 26,000. The university was established in 1903 as Western State Normal School. In 1928 it was made a teachers college; in 1938, in cooperation with the University of Michigan, it began offering graduate-level programs. Western Michigan became the state's fourth public university in 1957.