Missouri State University

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a medium-sized city.

Overview

Missouri State University was founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, with an initial goal of training teachers for public schools.

In 1945, because of the school's expanded instructional programs, the Missouri Legislature changed its name to Southwest Missouri State College. The university adopted its present name in 2005.

Missouri State is the second largest university in Missouri, covering more than 220 acres in central Springfield. The university also has a branch campus in West Plains and a research campus in Mountain Grove.

Missouri State University is organized into the following academic units:

• College of Arts and Letters
• College of Business Administration
• College of Continuing Education and the Extended University
• College of Education
• College of Health and Human Services
• College of Humanities and Public Affairs
• College of Natural and Applied Sciences
• Graduate School

In addition to more than 150 undergraduate majors and 47 graduate programs the school offers the state's largest internship program to encourage employers to hire its graduates.

Missouri State University has officially recognized a number of sororities and fraternities, including Alpha Chi Omega, Gamma Alpha Lambda, Delta Zeta, Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Gamma Sigma, Mu Phi Epsilon, Pi Kappa Phi, and Tau Kappa Epsilon.

In addition, there are more than 250 student organizations at Missouri State, which participates in NCAA Division I athletics.

Notable alumni include Blake Ahearn, NBA player; Ryan Howard, Major League Baseball player, National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player; John Q. Hammons, hotel developer; Roy Blunt, former Minority Whip of U.S. House of Representatives; and actors Kathleen Turner, Hohn Goodman, and Kendra Kassebaum.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in construction trades, hospitality, real estate and construction management, religion and philosophy, business and management, and education and teaching.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• Large number of students.
• Unusually high availability of athletic financial aid.
• Selective admissions.
• High yield: the portion of accepted students who enroll.
• Affordable tuition & fees.

School characteristics:

• The school is public.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Masters Colleges and Universities I.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students have meal (board) plans.
• Students may study abroad.
• Distance learning is available.
• Weekend study is an option.
• Part-time classes are available.
• ROTC.
• Athlete financial aid is awarded.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Missouri State:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 19,489 in 2009-2010 (15,870 full-time equivalent).

About 41% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 59% of the class.

Undergrads are 81% of enrolled students and graduate students are 19%.

Students under 25 years old represent 77% of the student body. About 5% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Among freshmen students, 99% are full-time and 1% are part-time.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

Room and Board

Missouri State provides on-campus housing for 4,300 of its 15,870 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Students may purchase a meal plan which includes 21 meals weekly.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Missouri Valley Conference for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 221 male students received the aid (men were 57% of those receiving aid) and 169 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 43% of students receiving such aid) .

Graduate School Focus

Missouri State offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Professional Practice).

Graduate offerings include continuing professional education.The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Postbaccalaureate Comprehensive.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT (34 awarded)

• Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations
• Agricultural Business and Management
• Agriculture

ANIMAL SCIENCE AND CARE (25 awarded)

• Animal Sciences

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (12 awarded)

• City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning

ART STUDIES (16 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies
• Visual and Performing Arts

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (1,158 awarded)

• Accounting
• Business Administration and Management
• Business Administration, Management and Operations
• Business/Commerce
• Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies
• Finance
• Insurance
• Logistics and Materials Management
• Management Information Systems
• Marketing/Marketing Management

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (35 awarded)

• Computer Science
• Computer/Info Tech Services Administration & Management

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (24 awarded)

• Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management

CONSTRUCTION TRADES (59 awarded)

• Apparel and Textiles

DESIGN (42 awarded)

• Design and Visual Communications

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (18 awarded)

• Dance
• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (665 awarded)

• Agricultural Teacher Education
• Art Teacher Education
• Biology Teacher Education
• Business Teacher Education
• Chemistry Teacher Education
• Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services
• Drama and Dance Teacher Education
• Early Childhood Education and Teaching
• Educational Leadership and Administration
• Educational/Instructional Media Design
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• English/Language Arts Teacher Education
• Family and Consumer Sciences/Home Economics Teacher Education
• French Language Teacher Education
• Geography Teacher Education
• German Language Teacher Education
• Higher Education/Higher Education Administration
• History Teacher Education
• Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education and Teaching
• Latin Teacher Education
• Mathematics Teacher Education
• Music Teacher Education
• Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
• Physics Teacher Education
• Reading Teacher Education
• Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education
• Secondary Education and Teaching
• Spanish Language Teacher Education
• Special Education and Teaching
• Speech Teacher Education
• Teacher Education, Multiple Levels
• Technology Teacher Education/Industrial Arts Teacher Education

ENGINEERING (14 awarded)

• Engineering/Industrial Management
• Materials Science

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (12 awarded)

• Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (207 awarded)

• Child Development
• Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences
• Housing and Human Environments
• Human Development and Family Studies
• Public Administration
• Public Administration and Social Service Professions
• Social Work

FINE ARTS (49 awarded)

• Art History, Criticism and Conservation
• Fine/Studio Arts

HOSPITALITY (88 awarded)

• Hospitality Administration/Management

LANDSCAPING AND HORTICULTURE (11 awarded)

• Agronomy and Crop Science
• Horticultural Science
• Plant Sciences

LIBERAL ARTS (318 awarded)

• Ancient Studies/Civilization
• Anthropology
• Cartography
• Creative Writing
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• French Language and Literature
• Geography
• German Language and Literature
• History
• International Relations and Affairs
• International/Global Studies
• Latin Language and Literature
• Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Political Science and Government
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Technical and Business Writing

MATHEMATICS (21 awarded)

• Mathematics

MEDIA (208 awarded)

• Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric
• Journalism
• Mass Communication/Media Studies
• Political Communication
• Public Relations/Image Management

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION (15 awarded)

• Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management

MEDICAL SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY (135 awarded)

• Audiology/Audiologist and Hearing Sciences
• Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist
• Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Technology/Technologist
• Physician Assistant
• Radiologic Technology/Science - Radiographer
• Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist

MEDICINE (23 awarded)

• Gerontology
• Public Health, General (MPH, DPH)

MUSIC (23 awarded)

• Music Performance
• Music

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (81 awarded)

• Nurse Anesthetist
• Nursing Administration (MSN, MS, PhD)
• Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (109 awarded)

• Athletic Training/Trainer
• Dietetics/Dietitian (RD)
• Health and Physical Education/Fitness
• Kinesiology and Exercise Science
• Parks, Recreation and Leisure Studies

PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMMERCIAL ART (4 awarded)

• Intermedia/Multimedia

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT (56 awarded)

• Construction Management

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (28 awarded)

• Philosophy
• Religion/Religious Studies

SCIENCE (188 awarded)

• Biological and Biomedical Sciences
• Biological and Physical Sciences
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
• Chemistry
• Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences
• Geology/Earth Science
• Natural Sciences
• Physics

SCIENCE AND LABORATORY TECHNICIAN (1 awarded)

• Physical Science Technologies/Technicians

SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (86 awarded)

• Criminology

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (194 awarded)

• Physical Therapy/Therapist
• Psychology