Missouri State University

university, Springfield, Missouri, United States
Also known as: Missouri State Normal School, Fourth District, Southwest Missouri State College, Southwest Missouri State Teachers College
Quick Facts
Date:
1905 - present
Areas Of Involvement:
public education
Notable Alumni:
John Goodman
Roy Blunt

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Missouri State University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning based in Springfield, Mo., U.S. It has one of the largest undergraduate enrollments in the state. Missouri State offers about 15 undergraduate degrees in more than 110 academic programs and 13 graduate degrees in about 30 programs. There are about 47 academic departments within the colleges of arts and letters, business administration, education, health and human services, humanities and public affairs, and natural and applied sciences, the College of Continuing Education, and the Extended University. The university operates a dozen research and service centres. The Duane G. Meyer Library contains a collection on the French writers Arthur Rimbaud and Michel Butor. A campus at Mountain Grove houses the State Fruit Experiment Station (founded 1899), and there is a two-year branch campus in West Plains (founded 1963). There are approximately 17,400 students enrolled at the main campus.

The university was established in 1905 as Missouri State Normal School, Fourth District; it began training teachers the following year. In 1919 it was renamed Southwest Missouri State Teachers College, and in 1945, with an expanded curriculum, it became Southwest Missouri State College. Elevated to university status in 1972, it acquired its present name in 2005.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
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Springfield, city, seat (1833) of Greene county, southwestern Missouri, U.S., near the James River, at the northern edge of the Ozark Highlands, north of the Table Rock Lake area. Settled in 1829, its growth was slow until the period of heavy westward migration, when pioneers were attracted by its location on important land routes. During the American Civil War the city was held for a few months by Confederate forces after the Battle of Wilson’s Creek (August 10, 1861; fought 10 miles [16 km] southwest) until they were expelled by Union troops in February 1862. James Butler (“Wild Bill”) Hickok lived in Springfield and was a Union scout; he was acquitted there of the murder of gunman Dave Tutt. An extension of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (1870) resulted in the development of a rival community, North Springfield, which merged with Springfield in 1887.

The city’s agriculture-based economy (dairy products, poultry, stockyards) is augmented by light manufacturing (steel products, paper containers, cleaning products, circuit boards, automotive glass and equipment, food processing), tourism, and educational institutions. The latter include Drury University (1873), Missouri State University (1905), Evangel University (1955), Central Bible College (1922), and Baptist Bible College (1950). The national headquarters of the Assemblies of God Church is in the city. Inc. 1838. Pop. (2010) 159,498; Springfield Metro Area, 436,712; (2020) 169,176; Springfield Metro Area, 475,432.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by World Data Editors.
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