Western Kentucky University

Coordinates: 36°59′14.90″N 86°27′10.80″W / 36.9874722°N 86.4530000°W / 36.9874722; -86.4530000

Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier.

WKU has a student body of over 21,000 students. Its main campus is in the midst of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction and renovation. Since 1997, dormitories have been renovated, new academic and athletic buildings have been finished, with more construction under way. The university also has placed a premium on creating a park-like atmosphere, with parking lots on the interior of the 200-acre (0.81 km2) campus replaced with green spaces, trees and central landscaping known as Centennial Mall.

The main campus sits atop the highest point in south-central Kentucky, a hill with a commanding view of the Barren River valley. The campus flows from the top of College Heights, also known as The Hill, down its north, south and west faces. WKU also operates satellite campuses in Bowling Green (WKU South Campus Academic Wing) and regionally in Glasgow, Elizabethtown/Fort Knox and Owensboro.

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