University of Washington Tacoma

The University of Washington Tacoma (UW Tacoma) is a public university in Tacoma, Washington. It is a university in the University of Washington system. The UW Tacoma campus opened its first classrooms in repurposed warehouses in downtown Tacoma in 1990 and opened its permanent campus in 1997. History Following the establishment of The Evergreen State College in Olympia in 1967, interest in additional higher education opportunities in the South Sound continued to grow. In 1986, the Higher Education Coordination Board suggested branch campuses for both the University of Washington and Washington State University. Tacoma and Bothell were chosen as new UW campus sites, and three locations were selected for new WSU campuses: Vancouver, the Tri-Cities and Spokane. The initial goal of the new campuses was to provide further education for the growing numbers of community college transfer students, as well as "time bound, place bound" students with limited access to educational opportunities in programs with "demonstrated regional needs." The University of Washington Board of Regents selected four finalist sites for the Tacoma-area campus in September 1989 out of a pool of 20 reviewed sites: a downtown site, a Hilltop site, an area adjacent to the Tacoma Community College campus, and a rural site near Interstate 5 in Fife. The Hilltop and Fife sites were eliminated by the Board of Regents in March 1990, while a smaller downtown site near Union Station was added to the list of finalists. The Union Station site was ultimately chosen for the permanent branch campus in November 1990. The University of Washington Tacoma campus began classes on October 1, 1990 in downtown Tacoma's historic Perkins Building. The 8 story structure was chosen in part for its capacity; during UW Tacoma's early years and construction of the permanent campus further south, enrollments comprised a maximum of approximately 401 juniors and seniors. During this time, downtown Tacoma's appearance and local reputation began to change.