William Carey University (WCU) will soon open its new Gulf Coast campus at Tradition, a master-planned community located on Highway 67 in South Mississippi. This fall, the new campus will serve approximately 750 students. As construction continues over the next 10 years, the campus will grow to serve 3,000 students.
Founded in 1906 as South Mississippi College, WCU offers a wide variety of academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including fine arts, business administration, education, psychology and nursing. The school has facilities in New Orleans, Hattiesburg and Gulfport. The Gulfport classes will be moved to the Tradition campus.
The new campus at Tradition currently consists of two buildings – 30,000 square feet of classrooms and 30,000 square feet of administrative facilities. The two three-story buildings are a classical architectural style with an “Ivy League” feel and include 4,400 square feet of open-air porches.
Future plans in Phase I include the construction of seven new buildings, as well as 700 parking spaces to be added to the existing 550.
William Carey University is one component of Tradition’s long-term master plan for education. Other elements of the plan include: a charter elementary school; the establishment of a high school to help teach building trades to support business and industry; the establishment of an academy for science and humanities; and the formation of a foundation that will explore and teach sustainable development and environmental conservation.
North of Tradition in Hattiesburg, William Carey’s main campus will also soon be expanding to offer more to its students. The university recently received a $1 million grant from the Asbury Foundation of Hattiesburg for construction of the school’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. The proposed school will be the 30th of such in the United States.
For more information on William Carey University, visit www.wmcarey.edu. To learn more about the town of Tradition, visit www.traditionms.com.
