Western Mindanao State University

The Western Mindanao State University (WMSU; ) is a state university located in Zamboanga City, Philippines. It has two campuses: the main campus of 79,000 square metres and 9,147 square metres in the city proper, and the satellite campus of 200,000 square metres in San Ramon about 20 kilometers from the city. Campuses comprising the external studies units are in the provinces of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay. It has a student population of over 32,000, regular faculty members of over 600 and over 200 administrative personnel. It has 15 colleges, one institute and two autonomous campuses offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses specializing in accounting, education, engineering, nursing, arts and humanities, social work, science and mathematics. Along with these major fields of concentration, WMSU also offers courses in agriculture, architecture, forestry, home economics, nutrition and dietetics, computer science, criminology, Asian and Islamic Studies and special degree courses for foreign students. It also offers external studies and non-formal education courses. WMSU ranked sixth among 68 universities all over the country, according to a survey on the Top Academic Institutions in the Philippines conducted by the Commission on Higher Education. The university's College of Teacher Education is a Center for Development; the College of Architecture is a Center of Development; and the College of Social Work and Community Development was awarded the Best School for Social Work in the Philippines. History With the cessation of the hostilities that marked the end of the Spanish–American War in 1898, Filipino and American educators agreed that the best way to rebuild a devastated nation was through the establishment of a sound education system. Eight normal schools were then established in the Philippines by the Americans. One of them was the Zamboanga Normal School established in 1904. As a secondary school, the Zamboanga Normal School offered a general academic curriculum under the Department of Mindanao and Sulu primarily designed to cater to the needs of cultural minorities in the provinces of Cotabato, Davao, Lanao, Sulu, and Zamboanga.