A short history of UW Bothell

Decades of innovative education

The creation of UW Bothell, along with UW Tacoma, was approved by the Washington state legislature in 1989. A part of the University of Washington, the two new campuses were founded to expand access to an excellent UW education for community college transfer students who wanted a four-year degree and for college graduates who wanted a master’s degree.

With an initial founding faculty of just 12 (see a complete list of all founding faculty here), UW Bothell held its first classes in fall 1990 in a local business park and graduated its first class of three students in 1991.

In 2000, the University moved its campus to its present location along with Cascadia Community College (now Cascadia College). UW Bothell then expanded its undergraduate program in 2005 to begin accepting high school graduates interested in getting a four-year degree.

UW Bothell is now home to 6,000 students who are enrolled in more than 55 different undergraduate and graduate programs taught by 350 faculty across five academic schools.

As a regional public university, UW Bothell has a diverse student body that comes primarily from Washington’s King and Snohomish counties, although it also serves students from all around the state, the nation and the world.

To learn more about UW Bothell’s people and programs — including a timeline of its first 35 years — check out the University’s 2025 Report to the Community.

Campus accolades

Although modern in style, UW Bothell’s buildings are designed to complement the land’s natural beauty and to maximize environmental sustainability. The new campus’ architecture and landscaping earned the Honor Award for Washington Architecture in 2002 from the American Institute of Architects.

Since its founding the campus has also won numerous awards and recognitions for its environmental conservation and sustainability curriculum and its campus-management programs.

The campus sits on 128 acres of picturesque land that includes the restored and protected North Creek Wetland – home to both salmon and crows — and that overlooks the Cascade mountains beyond.

The campus was built upon, and still occupies, the traditional shared lands and waters of the Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Stillaguamish, Suquamish and Tulalip Nations. After a long period of logging, the land was converted to a 500-acre, purebred cattle ranch owned by the Boone-Truly family. Nestled in the heart of the growing city of Bothell, the property was sold to the state of Washington in 1995. Campus construction and the wetland restoration began shortly thereafter.

An eye to the future

The campus community has helped drive more than three decades of UW Bothell’s dynamic development to date, earning a reputation for providing access to an excellent UW education through research, teaching, community partnerships and innovative educational philosophies.

You are invited to help us fulfill our mission and vision by enrolling in our academic programs, joining the staff or faculty, becoming a community partner, participating in campus events or making a charitable gift to support our students and programs.