Missouri State University was founded as the Missouri State Normal School, Fourth District, by legislative action on March 17, 1905. Missouri State first opened its doors in June 1906. After 102 years and four name changes, Missouri State is a comprehensive state university system offering a wide variety of programs and services to its students and the citizens of the state. During the 1995 session of the Missouri General Assembly, Missouri State received a statewide mission in public affairs, making it the only Missouri university emphasizing the development of aware, committed, and active participants in tomorrow’s society. In a campus ceremony on March 17, 2005, the 100th anniversary of Founders’ Day, Governor Matt Blunt signed Senate Bill 98, which included changing Southwest Missouri State University’s name to Missouri State University. This is the fifth and final name for the university. The institution was founded as the Normal School in 1905, then changed to Southwest Missouri State Teachers College in 1919, Southwest Missouri State College in 1946, and Southwest Missouri State University in 1972. Each new name has reflected the changed nature of the institution.

Missouri State University-Mountain Grove has a legislative mandate to generate knowledge through research and to disseminate this knowledge for the economic development of the Missouri fruit industry. The Mountain Grove Campus is home to the State Fruit Experiment Station, which was established by a legislative act in 1899 and is the oldest identifiable segment of Missouri State. Until 1974, the station was operated as a state agency under a board of trustees appointed by the governor. As a result of the Omnibus State Reorganization Act of 1974, administrative responsibility for the State Fruit Experiment Station was given to the Board of Governors of Missouri State. Following university reorganization in 1994, the station was assigned to the Department of Fruit Science in the College of Natural and Applied Sciences.

Missouri State-West Plains was founded in 1963 as the West Plains Residence Center. In 1977, the Board of Governors and, subsequently, the Missouri General Assembly, designated the name the “West Plains Campus” to replace Residence Center. In 1981, the legislature enacted a permanent status bill for the campus. In 1991, the legislature passed House Bill 51 which gave the West Plains Campus the authority to offer “one-year certificates, two-year associate degrees and credit and non-credit courses.” In 2005, the legislature passed Senate Bill 98 which included changing the name to Missouri State University-West Plains.