Roger Williams University (RWU) is a liberal arts university in the city of Bristol, Rhode Island, USA. The University was founded in 1956 although it can trace its history back to 1919 when Northeastern University opened a branch in the YMCA in the city of Providence, Rhode Island. The branch was run by the YMCA from 1940 onwards and the institution began awarding associate degrees in 1948. The school received a charter in 1956 and became the Roger Williams Junior College, and the college began awarding bachelor’s degrees in the 1960s. The college moved to a new waterfront campus in 1969 to accommodate its growing student population. The name changed again to Roger Williams University in 1992 and since that time it has been steadily increasing student enrolment and widening its curriculum.

Today RWU is a private coeducational liberal arts university with in the region of 5,000 students. There are a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses on offer with the most popular being management and marketing, business, architecture and law enforcement. There are around 50 majors available and the academic programs are split into eight schools: business, arts and sciences, architecture, art and historic preservation, engineering, computing, construction and management, justice studies, education, continuing studies and law.

The campus covers 140 waterfront acres in the town of Bristol and 30 minutes from the cities of Providence and Newport. There are six residence halls on campus and the college’s main academic and administrative buildings are all located here as well as sports and leisure facilities and the university library, ATMs and dining facilities.