College of William and Mary

The College of William and Mary in Virginia is a public, liberal-arts university located in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 and named in honor of King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest university in the United States (Harvard, founded in 1638, is the oldest). At the request of the House of Burgesses and the Reverend Dr. James Blair, the commissary (or representative) of the Church of England in Virginia, it was founded in the Virginia Colony in 1693 by royal charter issued by the monarchs of England.

Related Topics:
Liberal-arts - University - Williamsburg, Virginia - King William III - Queen Mary II - Harvard - House of Burgesses - Reverend Dr. James Blair - Church of England - Virginia Colony - 1693 - Charter - England

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Although it has long been a university, William and Mary proudly retains the word "college" in its name because the original Royal Charter under which it was founded specified that it always and forever be named "the College of William and Mary in Virginia." Perhaps as a gesture to this requirement, the university level school (defined as one with post-graduate programs) is often called simply "The College" by those close to it.

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Well before university-level education was the norm, the College educated many of America's founding leaders, including such notables as Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Tyler, and John Marshall. In the Colonial period, the College's facilities were frequently used by the lawmakers. On the campus, which is adjacent to the restored area of Colonial Williamsburg, the historic Wren Building is one of the oldest academic buildings in continuous use in the United States.

Related Topics:
Thomas Jefferson - James Monroe - John Tyler - John Marshall - Colonial Williamsburg - Wren Building

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Today, the highly-ranked College enrolls 5700 undergraduate and 2000 graduate students on an historic and picturesque campus. The College is considered a Public Ivy and is known for the high quality of its undergraduate programs in the sciences, government, religion, philosophy and international relations, among others, and for its Law School and graduate program in colonial history. Due to a lack of grade inflation, graduates of the College's undergraduate programs traditionally experience a high rate of acceptance to other professional and graduate schools, both in the U.S. and abroad.

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As a publicly-funded university, William & Mary (and rival University of Virginia) had long been addled by restrictive state funding and requirements to follow the same regulations and procedures as other agencies of the state government. These laws and rules tended to limit the authority of the Boards of Visitors of Virginia's top schools of higher education, as well as their ability to perform well in the 21st century. In 2005, the Virginia General Assembly approved a restructuring with Virginia's top universities allowing for greater freedoms. In addition, William and Mary recently made great strides in private fund raising and increased its endowment.

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