Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students. Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and became an independent institution in 1947, naming itself Wilkes College, after English radical politician John Wilkes after whom Wilkes-Barre is named. The school was granted university status in January 1990. It is classified among "Doctoral/Professional Universities". Wilkes University is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The school mascot is a Colonel and the official colors are blue and yellow. The campus symbol is a letter "W" known as the "flying W" by students and alumni.