Washington University in St. Louis, a medium-sized, independent university, is dedicated to challenging its faculty and students alike to seek new knowledge and greater understanding of an ever-changing, multicultural world. The university has played an integral role in the history and continuing growth of St. Louis and benefits in turn from the wide array of social, cultural and recreational opportunities offered by the metropolitan area to its more than 2.8 million residents.

Bordered on the east by St. Louis' famed Forest Park and on the north, west and south by well-established suburbs, the 169-acre Danforth Campus features predominantly Collegiate Gothic architecture, including a number of buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Pictured above: Brookings Hall (previously named University Hall) circa 1902.

At the other end of Forest Park — the site of the 1904 World's Fair and one of the nation's largest metropolitan parks — is the Medical Campus; this complex in St. Louis' Central West End district includes the School of Medicine and the associated hospitals and institutes of the Washington University Medical Center, which totals 164 acres. The university encompasses more than 2,300 acres and more than 150 major buildings on the Danforth and Medical campuses, the West Campus and the South Campus in Clayton, North Campus in the city of St. Louis, 560 Music Center and Lewis Center in University City, and the 2,000-acre Tyson Research Center 20 miles southwest of the city.

The university offers more than 90 programs and almost 1,500 courses leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in a broad spectrum of traditional and interdisciplinary fields, with additional opportunities for minor concentrations and individualized programs.