Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest university by enrollment, with 23,418 students in the fall semester of 2023. The school also offers associate degree programs at two-year campus in West Plains, Missouri, and a bachelor's degree in business programs at Liaoning Normal University in China. The university operates a fruit research station in Mountain Grove, Missouri, and a Department of Defense and Strategic Studies program in Arlington, Virginia.School of Defense and Strategic Studies moves to new office Retrieved on 2026-09-03.
History Missouri State University was formed as the Fourth District Normal School by legislative action on March 17, 1905, spearheaded by local businessman, John T. Woodruff. He lobbied for Springfield to be chosen out of 13 other communities. Woodruff gathered 200 area businesspeople, secured $41,000 in funding, and assisted the committee in settling on the "Headly tract". Like other normal schools of the day, the school's primary purpose was the preparation of teachers for the public school system.
Classes began on June 11, 1906, with the first class totaling 543 students in an off-campus facility. The first permanent campus building was Academic Hall. Its cornerstone was laid on August 10, 1907, and construction was completed in January 1909. The building is now known as Carrington Hall, named after William T. Carrington, the first president of the State Normal School. It serves as the university's administrative center.
The Fourth District Normal School became Southwest Missouri State Teacher's College in 1919 to reflect its regional and academic emphasis. Throughout the interwar period, the college's programs expanded to include liberal arts and sciences in the curriculum, thus facilitating a name change to Southwest Missouri State College in 1945. A burgeoning student population throughout the 1950s and 1960s resulted in the establishment of residence halls, accompanied by a growth in postgraduate education. This led to a third name change in 1972, to Southwest Missouri State University. In 1973, enrollment surpassed 10,000 students for the first time.
By 1985, SMSU had grown into the second-largest public university in the state, leading administrators to support a bill to change the name to Missouri State University, which eventually died in committee in the Missouri General Assembly. In 1990, enrollment surpassed 20,000 students for the first time, but further attempts to rename the school throughout the 1990s and early 2000s also failed. However, the state legislature did grant the university a statewide mission in public affairs in 1995.
In 2004, with the election of Springfield native Matt Blunt to the governorship and the approaching centennial of the university's founding, new support developed for the name change. It was opposed by the University of Missouri System (which operates the four campuses of the University of Missouri), which feared that the name change would lead to duplication of academic programs and ongoing battles for students and state funding. In 2005, the name-change bill was passed, following a late-night compromise between University of Missouri System President Elson Floyd and then-Southwest Missouri State President John Keiser, stating that Missouri State University would not duplicate certain professional programs offered by the University of Missouri. The bill to rename the university finally passed the Missouri Senate (25–7). On March 1, 2005, after more than seven hours of debate, the bill passed the Missouri House (120–35). Governor Blunt signed it into law on March 17, 2005—the centennial anniversary of the university—at the Plaster Student Union, where several student and state leaders were present.
In 2006, the university modified its nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation as an officially protected status. The addition reads: "... the University does not discriminate on any basis (including, but not limited to, political affiliation and sexual orientation) not related to the applicable educational requirements for students or the applicable job requirements for employees." Former university president John Keiser had firmly opposed the change, as did the Student Government Association (SGA) in 2004 when Student Body President Chris Curtis moved to change the SGA constitution to mirror the university's. However, the policy was quietly changed on September 18, 2006, during a meeting held in St. Louis. This move was generally believed to avoid the mostly conservative citizens of Springfield and add this policy "under the radar" of the critics of the change. Missouri Governor Matt Blunt quickly released criticism of the policy change, calling it "unnecessary and bad", also saying the decision "bows to the forces of political correctness".
In 2011, the university's executive master of business administration (MBA) program for students from China came under scrutiny after an article in the Springfield News-Leader questioned the financial relationship between Missouri State and its Hong Kong-based agent, alleging that students were paying double the amount that MSU was receiving. The executive MBA program accepts cohorts of students who come through a sponsor - a provincial or municipal government agency, a university, or a corporation. Missouri State's agent, the International Management Education Corporation (IMEC), identifies and develops relationships with sponsors, who identify and prepare students, screening them for work experience, a minimum grade-point average at the undergraduate level (2.75), and English language proficiency. IMEC then provides MSU with a cohort of a minimum of 30 students, and the sponsors send MSU the students' applications for review. The fees students pay vary by sponsor and range from $15,000 to $22,000. IMEC was contracted to pay Missouri State between $10,103 and $11,886 per student; resulting in between 20 and 55% of the student fee being retained by IMEC. IMEC defended the fees, claiming they cover marketing/promotion/recruiting and the related overhead costs, as well as additional costs including intensive English training, examinations, advice on applications and documentations, visa application fees, and service and orientations provided by IMEC. University officials defended the program and arrangement, stating that it had allowed Missouri State to quickly grow the executive MBA program without having to spend university resources in recruiting and marketing overseas. The program has had 370 students since it started in 2007. However, the chair of the Faculty Senate said professors have periodically raised questions about the quality and oversight of the various China initiatives, and had prepared a list of questions for the president in light of the article, expressing a desire to ensure that proper oversight was in place to avoid compromising quality. Following translation and republication of information from the News-Leader article by Chinese newspapers, MSU reported that it received calls from several program sponsor organizations in China that they would no longer participate in the program. The university continued to defend the program, arguing that mistranslations of the article had provided an incorrect view of the program's academic rigor and stating that it intended to meet with sponsors and answer any questions about the program.. Springfield News-Leader, Retrieved on 2012-02-07.
The traditions of school colors and the school mascot were established during the 1906 school year, before the first permanent building (Carrington Hall) was even constructed. A joint committee of faculty and students decided on the colors of maroon and white to represent the university. The same committee also selected the Bear as the official school mascot, basing their choice on the design of the state seal of Missouri. The colors and mascots are reflected on the school seal.
In July 2025, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 419, Senate Bill 150, and Senate Bill 160, legislation granting Missouri State University the authority to independently award Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Previously, the University of Missouri system held exclusive rights to confer research doctorates and certain professional degrees in the state, including the bachelor of science in veterinary technology. Following the enactment, university officials announced plans to assess and develop new doctoral programs that align with regional and statewide workforce needs.
Presidents Presidents of the college include: William Thomas Carrington, 1906–1918 Clyde Milton Hill, 1918–1926(2 January 1966). Clyde Hill Dead, The New York Times (noting that Hill was president from 1918 until he accepted a position of professor in education at Yale University in 1926) Roy Ellis, 1926–1961 Leland Eldridge Traywick, 1961–1964 Arthur Lee Mallory, 1964–1971 Duane G. Meyer, 1971–1983 Marshal Gordon, 1983–1992Russell Keeling (interim), 1992–1993 John Keiser, 1994–2005 Michael T. Nietzel, 2005–2010 James E. Cofer, 2010–2011 Clifton M. "Clif" Smart III, 2011–2024 Richard "Biff" Williams, 2024–present
Academics Missouri State University is classified among "Doctoral Universities".
Divisions Missouri State University's academic divisions include: Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities College of Business College of Education McQueary College of Health and Human Services College of Natural and Applied Sciences Missouri State Outreach Missouri State Online William H. Darr College of Agriculture Graduate School
The university offers more than 150 undergraduate majors and over 45 graduate programs. For the 2022 fiscal year, the university awarded 4,404 degrees. The Springfield campus had 721 full-time instructional faculty in fall 2009, of which 46% were female and 60% were tenured. The student-faculty ratio is 20-to-1. Nearly 90% of full-time, ranked faculty members have the most advanced degree available in their fields. During its 2009 fiscal year, MSU received 196 grants totaling $20,901,035. Freshmen entering for the fall 2010 semester had an average ACT score of 24 and a high-school grade point average of 3.60.
LNU-MSU In June 2000, Missouri State University entered into an agreement with Liaoning Normal University of the People's Republic of China to establish the LNU-MSU College of International Business on the campus of LNU. As an educational cooperation project between the two universities, the Branch Campus received formal approval from the governing bodies of both universities, the Missouri State Board of Governors and the Bureau of Education of Liaoning Province, China. The college currently offers an associate of arts in general studies degree and a bachelor of science, in general business degree. The Branch Campus programs are fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the Associate to Advance Collegiate Business Schools (AACSB International). Dalian has a diverse student body, with students from all over the world, including South Korea, Indonesia, Senegal, Nigeria, Zambia, Iran, Japan, and the U.S. It is located atop a prominence on the North Campus of LNU overlooking the university to its south.
Public affairs mission Missouri State University has a statewide mission in public affairs granted by the state legislature in 1995.