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%)

Accreditations

The University’s regional accreditation is through the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. On a 10-year review cycle, Missouri State University has been continuously accredited by the North Central association since 1915. HLC accreditation is for the entire University not specific academic programs.

It is the policy of the University to attain accreditation for all programs where accreditation is offered. Academic programs having an accreditation review process with similar goals as the MSU program review are given the opportunity to utilize the accreditation process as its periodic review. Reports from the accreditation evaluators are used in a manner similar to reports from an external evaluator for further deliberation by the department/program which then prepares a response. While program review is on a seven-year cycle, accreditation varies from 5–10 years. Programs may use the accreditation cycle with approval from the provost and respective deans.