Shenandoah University is a private university in Winchester, Virginia. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students across more than 200 areas of study in six schools: College of Arts & Sciences (including the Division of Education and Leadership and the Division of Applied Technology), School of Business, Shenandoah Conservatory, Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy, Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing, and the School of Health Professions (Athletic Training, Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant Studies and Physical Therapy). Shenandoah University is one of five United Methodist Church-affiliated institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia. History Rev. Abram Paul Funkhouser and Rev. John (Jay) Paul Fries founded the school as Shenandoah Seminary in 1875. At the time, it was located on a 10-acre campus in Dayton, Virginia, and classes were initially held in a two-room lo structure. The school had 11 students enrolled in its first year. Shenandoah Seminary became a junior college in 1924, changing its name to Shenandoah College the following year. Shenandoah Conservatory became a separate corporation in 1937 and began granting four-year degrees. In 1960, Shenandoah College and the Shenandoah Conservatory moved to the 126-acre Winchester campus and began offering four-year degrees in 1974 (at which time the college and conservatory corporations were merged). It sold its Dayton campus for $107,875. Shenandoah obtained university status on January 1, 1991, and today the student body represents 47 states plus the District of Columbia. The university, as of fall 2021, has 252 full-time and 202 part-time faculty members. The student body represents 48 foreign countries. Over 70 percent of full-time faculty have an earned doctorate (Ph.D. or similar) in their fields or other terminal degree. Name According to the university's official history page, the name Shenandoah is derived from the Native American legend of Zynodoa, a brave warrior whose life of strength and courage and his appreciation of beauty resulted in having a river and a valley named for him. Popular myth further ascribes translation of the word "Shenandoah" to mean "daughter of the stars." Locations The university operates in six locations: Winchester Downtown Winchester Health Professions Building on the campus of Winchester Medical Center Shenandoah River Campus at Cool Spring Battlefield Scholar Plaza, Loudoun Inova Center for Personalized Health, Fairfax The main location of campus is in Winchester near Interstate 81, and the Health Professions Building is located near the Winchester Medical Center. The Scholar Plaza,