Academics, Service, Work....

Warren Wilson College is located on a beautiful 1,100-acre campus in a mountain valley that American Indians called "Swannanoa", meaning "land of beauty". Over the years the setting has inspired community, creativity, learning, and a sense of harmony with the environment. The Mission of Warren Wilson College is to provide an education combining liberal arts study, work, and service with a strong commitment to environmental responsibility and experiential opportunities for international and cross-cultural understanding in a setting that promotes wisdom, spiritual growth, and contribution to the common good.

Sustainability is woven into the fabric of Warren Wilson. It is grounded in our rich history of place and purpose, embedded by generations of community members who have modeled our fundamental commitment to connect values to action. The practice of sustainability flows from the College mission, which serves as our compass for responsible citizenship, and from our unique liberal arts model of engaged learning. Warren Wilson College affirms a commitment to spiritual growth and social responsibility; and invites to its educational community individuals who are dedicated to personal and social transformation, and to stewardship of our natural environment.

Launched in January 1996, the Environmental Leadership Center raises awareness of local, national and global environmental realities and inspires caring citizens - especially our youth - to reflect, to communicate, and to act as responsible caretakers of the earth. The ELC is integral to and supports the central mission of Warren Wilson College - to provide an education combining liberal arts study, work, and service, with a strong commitment to environmental responsibility and experiential opportunities for international and cross-cultural understanding in a setting that promotes wisdom, spiritual growth, and contribution to the common good.

The Environmental Leadership Center is determined to foster the dialog, develop the leaders, and apply the practices required to implement systemic change. Its vision is global, its focus is regional, and its initiatives are action-oriented and designed to address the most pressing environmental issues

Students have constituted the core work-force for the College since its founding more than a century ago. Today each residential student works 15 hours each week on one of more than 100 work-crews that help run the college, and the work helps offset the cost of room and board. The work-crews give students experiential learning opportunities in their fields of study. For example, pre-veterinary students care for the hogs and cattle on the 300-acre College farm; education majors assist in the Head Start Program at the Early Learning Center; while other students might work in one of the computer centers.

Each student is also responsible for giving 100 hours of community service in the Asheville community, their own home town, or in another country. The College believes that service to society enables students to make a difference in the world and to better understand the needs of the others. Because students, faculty and staff live, work and serve together, there is a strong sense of community.

Warren Wilson’s iconic EcoDorm, which opened in 2003 as a pioneering model of energy-efficient building designs and renewable-energy technologies, has become the first building on a college campus to achieve LEED Platinum certification in the Existing Buildings category. Platinum certification is the highest rating level a building can receive under the LEED system.

Capitalizing on its mountain location Warren Wilson is in partnership with North Carolina Outward Bound, and the outdoor leadership major has become one of the College's most popular fields of study. The College's location just outside Asheville, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, provides many fascinating opportunities for students including kayaking, mountain biking, caving, and rock climbing.

Non-Profit Management
Sustainable Economic Developm't Conservation Biology
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Education
Environmental Policy
Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable Forestry
Intercultural Studies
Latin American Studies
Outdoor Leadership

Learn more about Warren Wilson in Making A Difference Colleges. Warren Wilson College website