College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187
Overview
Although it retains the historic name under which it was chartered in 1693, the College of William and Mary has in fact been a small research university for a long time. In 1779, it established the first chair of law in the United States. The College is now organized as a Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Schools of Business, Education, Law, and Marine Science. The 1,200-acre main campus in Williamsburg encompasses most of the activities of the university and includes buildings ranging in age from those built around the time of the granting of the royal charter to recent construction. The School of Marine Science campus is located at Gloucester Point.
The total enrollment of 7,750 includes 5,748 undergraduates and 2,001 graduate and professional students (184 of these were unclassified). Most are full-time students who live on or in the vicinity of the campus. In each graduate school, there is an active graduate student association.
The Location and Community
Williamsburg is on a Chesapeake Bay peninsula between the York and James Rivers, on Interstate 64, 50 miles from Richmond, 45 miles from Norfolk, and 150 miles from Washington, D.C. The College is the center of a historic and popular tourist area that includes Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, a major water-sports region, and an exceptional concentration of cultural activities. Williamsburg has direct limousine service to the Newport News, Norfolk, and Richmond airports, and bus and railway service is also available.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences offers M.A., M.S., and Ph.D. programs in a number of disciplines and the Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.). The Psy.D. in clinical psychology is offered in collaboration with neighboring institutions through the Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, which awards the degree. Joint-degree programs leading to M.B.A./M.P.P., M.P.P/M.S. in marine science, M.P.P./M.S. in computational operations research, J.D./M.A. in American studies and J.D. with M.P.P. are also offered. The School of Business offers a full-time M.B.A., an evening M.B.A., an Executive M.B.A., and a Master of Accounting (M.A.C.). Joint-degree programs in law (M.B.A./J.D.) and public policy (M.B.A./M.P.P.) are also offered. The School of Education offers an M.A.Ed. in elementary school teaching (with an emphasis in reading, language, and literacy), secondary school teaching, and gifted education; an M.Ed. in counseling, educational leadership (with emphases in general K-12 administration and higher education administration), school psychology, and special education; an Ed.S. in school psychology; and an Ed.D. and Ph.D. in counselor education and educational policy planning and leadership (with emphases in general K-12 administration, gifted education administration, higher education, and special education administration). U.S. News & World Report ranks William and Mary among the top fifty in a national survey of 191 doctoral degree-granting schools of education. The College was also ranked sixth in the country in terms of the quality of its teaching. The Marshall-Wythe School of Law offers the J.D. and LL.M. degrees as well as three joint degrees: J.D./M.A. in American studies, J.D./M.B.A., and J.D./M.P.P. The School of Marine Science offers M.S. and Ph.D. programs in marine science with specializations in biological, chemical, geological, and physical oceanography; marine resource management; marine fisheries science; and toxicology and pathology.
The Facilities and Resources
The libraries of the College are the central Earl Gregg Swem Library; the chemistry, physics, geology, biology, and music libraries; the Marshall-Wythe Law Library; the School of Marine Science Library; the Professional Resource Center in the School of Business; and the Learning Resource Center/Curriculum Library in the School of Education. Specialized laboratories, equipment, publication organizations, collections, and other facilities are available in a variety of departments and institutes, including the Applied Research Center, which houses the Jefferson Lab library; the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture; the Virginia Institute of Marine Science; the Center for Archaeological Research; the Archaeological Conservation Center; the Institute of Bill of Rights Law; Millington Life Sciences Hall; Muscarelle Museum; the Center for Public Policy Research; and the William Small Physical Laboratory. Research opportunities are extended in conjunction with neighboring organizations that include the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, the Eastern State Hospital, the National Center for State Courts, and the Langley Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Graduate students and faculty members are working at national laboratories and accelerator installations throughout the world.
Expenses and Aid
Tuition and fees for two semesters of full-time study, by school, were as follows: Graduate Arts and Sciences, School of Marine Science, and Graduate School of Education, $8532 for Virginia residents and $21,196 for nonresidents; Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, $3475 for residents and nonresidents; School of Law, $15,159 for Virginia residents and $26,399 for nonresidents; full-time M.B.A. program, $13,860 for Virginia residents and $26,362 for nonresidents; and M.A.C. program, $12,000 for residents and $24,340 for nonresidents.
Financial Aid:
Fellowships, scholarships, institutional and grant-funded assistantships, internships, apprenticeships, work-study arrangements, and loans are available. Duties are limited so that assistants can progress toward their degrees at the normal pace. Most of the funds are assigned through the departments and schools. While there is often some flexibility, early application is recommended.
Housing/Living Expenses:
The estimated cost of living for a single student totals $13,878 plus tuition. Conveniently located College housing for graduate and professional students is available for between $1600 and $1990 per semester. Many graduate and professional students elect to live off campus.
How to Apply
There are substantial variations in deadlines and procedures among the departments and schools, and applicants should request information from those in their areas of interest as soon as possible. Most programs are designed for students who wish to begin their studies in the fall semester. The financial aid deadline for the M.B.A. program is March 1; for all other graduate programs, it is March 15.
Who to Contact
Dean of Research and Graduate Studies
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8795
757-221-2467
Fax: 757-221-4874
Graduate Departments
ARTS and SCIENCES
• American Studies (M.A., Ph.D., J.D./M.A. with law): Ms. Jean Brown, Program Manager (jxbrow@wm.edu). Program encourages students to use interdisciplinary approaches to explore the diverse past and present cultures of the peoples of the United States. The program has special strengths in African-American studies, cultural studies, popular and material cultures, cultural and intellectual history, American history and literature, and the history of the book.
• Anthropology (M.A., Ph.D.): Dr. Mary Voigt, Graduate Director (mmvoig@wm.edu). The M.A. is designed as a terminal degree to prepare students in historical archaeology and related professions. The Ph.D. program prepares students for long-term research and teaching in anthropology with specializations in historical archaeology and historical anthropology. Faculty specialties emphasize comparative colonialism, the African diaspora, Native America, the archaeology of Colonial America and the Caribbean, and CRM. Practical training in field, laboratory, and museum conservation methods is available in various courses, including summer field schools. Students have access to unparalleled historical, archaeological, and museum resources, as well as opportunities to participate in a wide variety of ongoing projects in the Williamsburg area, Dutch West Indies, and Bermuda. (http://www.wm.edu/graduate/)
• Applied Science (M.S., Ph.D.): Dr. Eric Bradley, Chair (elbrad@as.wm.edu). Offers an interdisciplinary program in the physical sciences, which is cooperatively offered by the core faculty of applied science and participating faculty from biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics as well as NASA-Langley, Jefferson Lab, and Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). Research specializations of core and affiliated faculty members include thin films, computational materials, interface and surface science, processing materials with light and plasmas, nondestructive evaluation, medical imaging, computational biology, biological modeling, solid-state NMR, applied mathematics and modeling, and composite and polymer materials science.
• Biology (M.A., M.S.): Dr. John Swaddle, Graduate Director (jpswad@wm.edu). Program is designed for students who desire an intensive, closely mentored research experience and advanced biology training. Graduates go on to doctoral programs, including medicine and law as well as traditional Ph.D. programs in biology, or find employment in environmental analysis or pharmaceuticals/biotechnology.
• Chemistry (M.A., M.S., and joint M.S./Ph.D. program with Applied Science): Dr. Chris Abelt, Graduate Director (cjabel@wm.edu). Program offers a thesis-based degree in areas of biochemistry and organic, inorganic, physical, polymer, and analytical chemistry. The program is designed for students who desire additional academic experience before pursuing an industrial career, a professional degree, or a Ph.D. degree.
• Computer Science (M.S., Ph.D.): Dr. Nikos Chrisochoides, Graduate Director (nikos@cs.wm.edu). Research areas include computer systems and architecture, parallel and distributed processing, high-performance computing, performance modeling, software engineering, databases, numerical linear algebra and optimization, parallel mesh generation, and algorithms. Interdisciplinary research opportunities can be found nearby at NASA-Langley, Jefferson Lab, VIMS, and the Applied Science department. (http://www.cs.wm.edu)
• History (M.A., Ph.D.): Dr. Carol Sheriff, Graduate Director (gradap@wm.edu). Ph.D. students specialize in American history; M.A.-level students may also specialize in selected areas of English or European history. In cooperation with the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Colonial Williamsburg, and Swem Library, the department offers students practical work experience through apprenticeships in archives and manuscripts, scholarly publishing, humanities computing, historical archaeology, architectural history, and teaching.
• Physics (M.S., Ph.D.): Dr. Marc Sher, Graduate Admissions, (grad@physics.wm.edu). Research specialties include accelerator physics; atomic, molecular, and optical physics; nuclear and particle physics; plasma theory and nonlinear dynamics; condensed matter physics; and computational physics. Collaborative research efforts and the proximity of NASA-Langley and Jefferson Lab bring graduate students into contact with the international community.
• Psychology (M.A.): Dr. Lee Kirkpatrick, M.A. Graduate Director (lakirk@wm.edu). M.A. program includes core courses in all major subfields, a yearlong statistics sequence, a professional development seminar, and opportunities to conduct research with faculty members whose publications are on a par with faculties in the top quarter of Ph.D.-granting institutions.
• Psychology (Psy.D.): Dr. Neill Watson, Director of Clinical Training (npwats@wm.edu). The Psy.D. degree is offered by the Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology (the College of William and Mary, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk State University, and Old Dominion University) and provides education and training for the practice of clinical psychology. (http://www.vcpcp.odu.edu/vcpcp)
• Public Policy (M.P.P., J.D./M.P.P. with law, M.B.A./M.P.P. with business, M.S./M.P.P. with marine science): Professor Elaine McBeth, Admissions Director (mcbeth@wm.edu). Two-year interdisciplinary program prepares students for careers in public service through training in economics and quantitative analysis, with instruction in political, legal, and organizational environments in which policy is made and implemented.
• SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
• M.B.A., M.B.A./J.D., M.B.A./M.P.P.: Kathy Pattison, Director of M.B.A. Admissions (admissions@business.wm.edu or http://business.wm.edu/mba). William and Mary provides a broad management education in a personalized environment that offers open access to faculty members and one-on-one interaction with some of today's most intriguing corporate leaders. Students achieve a thorough grounding in management theory and practice through the uniquely integrated curriculum, which addresses the complexities of multidisciplinary business issues. Elective courses and study-abroad opportunities provide concentrated study in specialized fields, while internships and field studies consulting projects provide hands-on experience in identifying, researching, and proposing solutions for real business problems. M.B.A. students have the unique advantage of a corps of corporate executives in the Executive Partners Mentorship Program.
• M.A.C.: Aimee Keeney, Associate Director of Admissions, Master of Accounting Program (mac@business.wm.edu or http://business.wm.edu/mac). A full-time, two-semester residential program, the M.A.C. program has been built upon the nationally recognized excellence in William and Mary's accounting and M.B.A. programs. Offering a unique curriculum that blends required accounting core courses with M.B.A. electives taught by highly respected faculty members, the M.A.C. program provides an extremely practical and valuable learning experience. The program accepts applications from accounting and nonaccounting majors alike. The following prerequisites are required prior to admission: principles of accounting, statistics, financial management, introduction to information technology, and intermediate accounting I. Intermediate accounting is offered as an intensive course prior to the start of fall classes.
• SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
• M.Ed., M.A.Ed., Ed.D., Ed.S., Ph.D.: Thomas Ward, Associate Dean of Academic Programs (tjward@wm.edu or http://www.wm.edu/education). Programs prepare teachers for elementary, middle, and secondary education; prepare specialists in counseling, gifted education, and school psychology; and prepare students for educational policy, planning, and leadership roles for K-12 and higher education. Programs are organized into three divisions: curriculum and instruction; educational policy, planning, and leadership; and school psychology and counseling education.
• MARSHALL-WYTHE SCHOOL OF LAW
• J.D., LL.M., J.D./M.A. in American studies, J.D./M.B.A., J.D./M.P.P.: Faye F. Shealy, Associate Dean of Admission. (E-mail: lawadm@wm.edu or http://www.wm.edu/law/). Established in 1779, William and Mary Law School is the nation's oldest, located near Colonial Williamsburg and within easy driving distance of Norfolk, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. A nationally recognized law school, William and Mary is well-known for the innovative Legal Skills Program-a nationally recognized model for teaching professional skills and ethics. The technologically advanced McGlothlin Courtroom is home of the Courtroom 21 Project. The Institute of Bill of Rights Law sponsors programs on emerging constitutional issues. The Supreme Court Preview, held each fall, includes nationally known journalists and academic commentators. The faculty includes nationally and internationally recognized experts in a wide range of subjects. Students, faculty members, administrators, and staff members maintain an exceptionally collegial learning and scholarly community.
• SCHOOL OF MARINE SCIENCE
• M.S., M.S./M.P.P., Ph.D.: Iris Anderson, Dean of Graduate Studies (iris@wm.edu or http://www.vims.edu). The School of Marine Science, the educational program of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, offers both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in marine sciences. Emphasis is on the study of estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Research is performed in marine ecosystems worldwide. The school is organized into five departments: biological sciences, environmental and aquatic animal health, fisheries sciences, physical science (including physical, chemical, and geological oceanography), and coastal and ocean policy. In addition, the school contributes to the College-wide environmental science and policy curriculum. Considerable attention is also paid to advisory services and outreach in response to both policy and private needs and interests.