What matters is right here.
The stage is set.
Land the lead role. In a play. On a paper. For a research project. With a business. At the front of the class.
What happens at Mary Washington sets the stage for the rest of your life. This is where you come into your own — where you decide what matters most to you as a student and a human being. And the world is better for it.
Level up.
Every groundbreaking solution begins with deep understanding.
At Mary Washington, we get to the root of learning with small classes led by expert faculty, chances for collaboration and independent study, and course sequences that advance knowledge. Find a field you love, give your mind room to roam, go on adventures, take risks, seek out intersections, chase answers, and create fresh insight. You’ll be prepared to think broadly and find solutions, no matter the area of study.
In the classroom and beyond, our courses overflow with inquiry and exploration. Deep thinking and doing happen daily here. We go for collaboration over competition. You’ll work with professors who double as mentors. They’ll help you tap into your strengths and talents. This is how you find your full potential.
One of “America’s Best Colleges” - U.S. News & World Report
100+ majors, minors, and programs. Study biology or psychology. Check out cybersecurity or communication and digital studies. Major in management and entrepreneurship, or put yourself at the front of the classroom in education.
Mentors that count. Our professors encourage you to become a key player in the universal human quest to make things better. Consider them your betterment team.
14:1
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO
20 STUDENTS PER CLASS (AVERAGE)
100%
CLASSES TAUGHT BY PROFESSORS
100%
FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS RECEIVE SOME FORM OF FINANCIAL AID AND SCHOLARSHIPS
Real research.
Study the complexities of brain cancer or investigate climate variability in the Chesapeake Bay. We’re investing more than $1 million each year to support undergraduate research, building on an alum’s generous $30 million gift to support STEM fields, plus a Beyond the Classroom endowment to advance research across all fields.
Real experience. Explore an area of interest with an internship opportunity. Spend the summer in the lab, studio or field, fully funded with a stipend and on-campus housing through summer institutes.
One of “America’s Top Colleges and Universities”
- The Princeton Review
Hands-on learning works.
Imagine delving into modern true crime, perfecting the craft of storytelling, or deconstructing Disney’s America. Our first-year seminars (FSEMs) offer an introduction to meaningful inquiry. Guided by outstanding professors in small classes, you’ll learn how to attack a problem. Mine for new solutions. Argue your position. And foster communication. Plus, our peer
mentoring program connects you with an upperclass student to help you with anything and everything.
Our historic preservation program (one of the nation’s few) teaches you to protect and understand history. Our communication and digital studies program is one of the nation’s best. In our Social Good Lab, you’ll use a “Design Sprint” framework (pioneered by Google Ventures) to prototype solutions for some of the world’s most pressing problems. Or maybe you’ll trek out to Myanmar for an internship. Or intern for the CIA in cartography. Mary Wash students do. BTW, it’s the norm for our students to present at conferences, competing — and winning — against grad students.
To live is to learn. To experience is to grow. Now, that’s what really matters.
A Few Internships
U.S. Congress
Miami Dolphins
American Red Cross
National Aquarium
Madison Square Garden
Library of Congress
Walt Disney World
National Public Radio
Smithsonian Institution
U.S. Geological Survey
National GeospatialIntelligence Agency
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division
City of Fredericksburg
Department of
Homeland Security
Step into your role. Perfect practice.your Cheer each other on.
We’re here with you every step of the way.
Love Your Team. You’ve got a ticket to every UMW Eagles home game, for free! We’ll save you a seat.
Never doubt
the importance of small actions.
How you choose to spend your time and why you break a sweat matter. Our students can choose to spend their summers in a science lab, an art studio, the field, or an internship. They volunteer. They practice as
teachers. They organize food and clothing donations for the Gwen Hale Resource Center on campus and help the community on Good Neighbor Day. They play in the pep band or field a team for Campus Recreation.
A short list of what matters to us:
ACCOUNTABILITY. RESPONSIBILITY FOR ACTIONS AND DECISIONS. SCHOLARSHIP. ENGAGING IDEAS. CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE. PERSONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY. THE HONOR CODE. INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE. EQUITABLE ACCESS. RESPECT AND CIVILITY. BEING A STUDENT LEADER. KINDNESS. ENGAGEMENT. VOLUNTEER WORK. OUR COMMUNITY VALUES.
43,000+ hours of communityengaged work each year.
Classmates, Community, Champions.
Your undergraduate experience at Mary Washington starts before the start of classes, with Eagle Gathering lighting the way, an ice cream social at the President’s house, and a downtown welcome weekend. You’ll have expert guides, from orientation leaders to peer mentors, helping you navigate those first days.
We’ll encourage you to walk the walk, Campus Walk that is, which connects campus to the surrounding community and chronicles our history. It’s where
alumni reconnect for in-person reunions and the annual Multicultural Fair brings everyone together.
Your next steps start here, surrounded by friends, classmates, and eventual colleagues. From research and creative projects with faculty mentors to ways to intern and earn credits off campus to partner programs that lead to graduate school and professional degrees, your transcript will check all the requirements for academics and co-curriculars.
“It is a really special place to learn, further your academic pursuits, and be encouraged stepping into a career after your time at UMW.”
- Fiske Guide to Colleges
Learn to lead.
A “Best College” for quality, affordability, and future earning potential - Money Magazine
The UMW Honors Program and Presidential Emerging Leaders Program provide ways to step up. Join a community within the UMW community. Stretch yourself to learn more. Get lost in conversation in a cohort. Grab a cup of tea. You might be here awhile.
Be open to change. There’s a culture of trying new things here. Take the lead in one of 150+ student clubs and organizations. Contribute to a studentrun publication. Book big concerts with the Campus Programming Board. Team up with friends in an intramural league or join the esports team. Work toward an invite to an honor society. Claim your space on campus your way. It’s not about fitting into a mold. It’s about being the absolute best version of yourself.
Here you’ll be surrounded by people – professors, mentors, friends, classmates, community neighbors – who inspire you to aspire to more. Call us compassionate and passionate about connections and finding the ways we can work together. Each person is drawn here because they want to find their way to make an impact.
3,800+ STUDENTS FROM
33 STATES AND
15 COUNTRIES
This is a place of traditions — from Homecoming in the fall to Devil-Goat Day held right before the last day of spring classes. We see you. At UMW, we will help you make the most of everything you have to offer.
Make this home.
Our hometown, Fredericksburg, is cool and artsy, with lots of coffee options. Walk the Canal Path along the Rappahannock River. Paddleboard. Kayak. Tube. Get off campus and into the world. We’re right between (50 miles each way) D.C. and Richmond, so you’re close to résumé-building, life-changing internships, opportunities, and networking.
Our campus is gorgeous, green, and full of opportunity. See a show in Klein Theatre. Bring ideas to life in the Seacobeck makerspace or Hurley Convergence Center Inc Lab. Use the green screens there to record a song or a podcast in the multimedia editing lab. Get creative. Catch some sun and/or Frisbees. Play a pick-up game or pick up an on-campus job.
14 RESIDENCE HALLS
234 ACRES
The annual Multicultural Fair draws 4,000+ people to experience art, music, culture, and lots of food, all along Campus Walk.
Dig in.
Do what you love. Always make it matter.
UMW Eagles go the distance. We’re NCAA Division III and focused on the studentathlete experience. We’re a nationally recognized athletic department within the division. Our people are Student-Athletes, All-Americans, Paralympians, and All-Stars. We reach that level because of deep support from our coaches, staff, campus community, alumni, and parent groups. We work together to be the best versions of ourselves.
Service runs deep with Mary Wash studentathletes. Count on us to be there for the things that matter. We’re volunteering with Special Olympics, running community basketball clinics, and flexing muscle by mentoring local youth.
Find what matters to you — the next championship, a new personal best, your team — and then go for it with all you’ve got.
18
NCAA DIVISION III
SPORTS
Baseball (M)
Basketball (M/W)
Cross country (M/W)
Field hockey (W)
Lacrosse (M/W)
Soccer (M/W)
Softball (W)
Swimming (M/W)
Tennis (M/W)
Track and field (M/W)
Volleyball (W)
TEAM SPORTS
Esports (co-ed)
Equestrian (co-ed)
Rugby (M/W)
20+
CLUB SPORTS
Rowing. Swim. Ultimate Frisbee. Cheer. Even Winterguard and Fencing.
Top skills of a Mary Wash grad:
Career, self-development, and professionalism
Civic engagement and community service
Communication
Critical thinking and problem-solving
Digital fluency
Global awareness and intercultural competence
Leadership
Meaningful connections
Teamwork and collaboration
Well-being and mindfulness
Ready for life after Mary Wash.
Life After Mary Washington is just as important as your time here, and we’ll make sure you are prepared, not just to land your first job, but to build a life of meaning, a life that matters, to yourself, the people you love, and the world at large.
That’s what we do.
Own every moment.
We’ve intentionally created the space for you to take giant leaps – intellectually, socially, and personally. That’s true whether you are competing for our NCAA Division III athletic programs, joining one of our team sports such as esports as a student-athlete, leading a club or student organization, signing up as a peer mentor, engaging in service throughout the community, interning, or creating your own path forward. You’ll have the tools, techniques, and technology at your fingertips, friends by your side, and resources to advance in whatever field you choose.
We’ll help make it possible, through on-campus connections, nearly 700 student employment positions, competitive financial aid and scholarship awards, and a network of nearly 50,000 alumni who are ready to welcome you.
90%+ of graduates
ARE EMPLOYED, IN GRAD SCHOOL OR IN MILITARY OR PUBLIC SERVICE WITHIN S IX MONTHS OF GRADUATION
“Best Bang for the Buck” - Southeast Region listing, Washington Monthly
Top Employers of UMW Grads
Walt Disney Company
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
KPMG
Northrop Grumman
Tech Wizards
Americorp
Carahsoft Technology Company
Mary Washington Healthcare
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division
Stafford, Fredericksburg, and Spotsylvania
Public Schools
Phone: (540) 654-2000
Email: admit@umw.edu
@MaryWash
@MaryWash
UniversityofMaryWashington
University