About Missouri State

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About the university

Missouri State University is a public, comprehensive university system with a mission in public affairs. Our purpose is to develop fully educated persons with a focus on ethical leadership, cultural competence and community engagement.

Locations

The Missouri State University system has four physical campuses:

• The main campus in Springfield, Mo.
• West Plains, Mo., offering two-year associate’s degrees
• Mountain Grove, Mo., focusing on fruit science and agriculture research
• Dalian, China, in partnership with Liaoning Normal University

Making a difference

Missouri State has a public affairs mission. It’s about helping the community, being a leader and being informed about the world and the people who live in it through:

• Community engagement
• Cultural competence
• Ethical leadership

By the numbers

The Missouri State community includes:

• 23,838 students in the Missouri State system making it the second largest university in the state
• Six academic colleges, one School of Agriculture and one Graduate College
• Almost 4,000 faculty and staff members with 90 percent of full-time ranked faculty holding the most advanced degree in their field
• 4,000 students living in University housing
• 1,500 international students studying on the Springfield campus
• 16 NCAA Division I teams with 48 NCAA championship appearances
• 85,000 alumni applying their education around the world

Profile of a Bear

Our students:

• Represent all 50 states and 85 foreign countries
• Study in one of our 85+ undergraduate majors leading to 185+ academic options or 45+ graduate degree programs
• Participate in nearly 300 student organizations and more than 25 fraternities and sororities
• Play about 20 intramural sports
• Receive $155 million in financial aid with 75 percent of students receiving some form of assistance
• Volunteer more than 100,000 hours at government and nonprofit organizations through the Campus Volunteer Center, cooperative education and service-learning

Our freshmen:

• Earned an average ACT score of 24.1, state and national averages
• Held an average high school grade point average of 3.59
• Placed in the top half of their high school classes (83.5%)

Go maroon!

Missouri State spirit includes:

• The school colors—maroon and white
• The Bears athletic teams
• The Boomer Bear and Growl Bear mascots
• BearWear Friday, a day devoted to showing your spirit by wearing MSU gear
• The cheer squad and Sugar Bears dance team

University honors

• Named to America’s Top Colleges list by Forbes magazine
• Received Best in the Midwest distinction from The Princeton Review
• Ranked among Best Colleges: Regional Universities (Midwest) by U.S. News & World Report
• Named Military Friendly School by G.I. Jobs magazine
• Selected as a Carnegie Foundation Community Engaged University
• Listed on the President's Roll for Higher Education Community Service