MU Pride Points

MU Has Top-Flight Students

In fall 2006, MU welcomed the largest enrollment in its history: 28,253 students from every county in Missouri, every state in the nation and 101 countries.

Mizzou's six-year graduation rate of 68.9 percent is the highest it's ever been and ranks first among the state's public institutions. The national graduation rate is 56 percent.

The 2006 freshman class boasts an ACT average of 25.3, compared with the national average of 20.9 and the state average of 21.5. Nearly one-third come from the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

MU attracts more valedictorians, Curators Scholars and twice as many of the state's Bright Flight Scholars than any other college or university in Missouri.

MU has more than 500 student-athletes involved in 20 sports in the state's only Division I-A athletic program. Fifteen of the 20 teams qualified or sent individuals into post-season play last year. Academically, MU led the nation in the number of NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients in 2005 and ranked 4th in the number of First-Team Academic All-Americans in 2004.

Over the past seven years, MU Law School students have had the highest passing rate on the Missouri Bar Examination.

Ben Askren is Missouri's first wrestling national champion in the 61-year history of the program and first individual national champion in any sport since 1999.

In April 2006, political science major Nicholas Dudley became the second debater in the history of the National Forensics Association to win back-to-back national championships.

The New York Times announced in May 2006 that journalism graduate student Casey Parks was chosen from 3,800 applicants as the winner of the paper's essay competition. She will accompany Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof on a trip to Africa and write about her experiences.

Ashley Acevedo, a biochemistry major, was chosen from among 1,081 college students to receive the 2006 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the brightest math, science and engineering undergraduates.

Two music students have received the nation's most prestigious awards for composers. John Ernst won the 2006 National Young Artist Composition Competition of the Music Teachers National Association for his piece “The City Awakens,” and David MacDonald received one of only 10 BMI Student Composer Awards for his original work “Elegy.”

Lauren Drufke-Mahe, a textile and apparel management student, designed Mizzou's new officially licensed tartan plaid.

A team of business, journalism and engineering students made it to the Final Four of the first Big 12 New Venture Championship. MU's entry was PictureCloud, an Internet service created by mechanical engineering student Paul Pattison, the University of Missouri System's 2006 Student Entrepreneur of the Year.

MU Offers an Excellent, One-of-a-Kind Education

As Missouri's flagship university, MU has 20 schools and colleges and more than 270 degree programs — including 36 online options — to help students reach their career and personal goals.

MU is highly ranked in quality and value by U.S. News & World Report, The Fiske Guide to Colleges, Barron's Best Buys in College Education, and in numerous other college guides.

U.S. News and World Report's “America's Best Colleges 2006” named MU's Campus Writing Program, living communities and Freshman Interest Groups as outstanding programs that lead to student success.

The National Science Foundation has recognized MU as one of the top ten universities in the country for successfully integrating research into undergraduate education.

The Center for the Literary Arts reinforces MU's reputation as a “writing university” by uniting renowned programs in creative writing and theatre and maintaining connections with journalism and other fields to offer students an interdisciplinary approach to writing.

MU offers more than 100 Freshman Interest Groups, where students with shared academic interests live in the same residence hall and attend classes together. These communities, which are models for other institutions around the country, provide a strong academic and social foundation for freshmen and higher retention and graduation rates.

Mizzou offers students opportunities to perform in national venues, such as Mizzou on Broadway, Mizzou at Carnegie Hall and Mizzou at the Kennedy Center.

The MU Office of Service Learning formally integrates community service into student instruction and learning. During the 2005-06 academic year, 13 percent of MU undergraduates, or 2,827, enrolled in more than 100 service-learning courses and provided 100,000 hours of service through 200 agencies.

Money magazine, Men's Journal and MSN.com have all called Columbia, Mo., one of America's best places to live because of its excellent quality of life.

MU Provides a Rich Learning Environment

Two MU faculty members have won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in the last three years. This award is only given to ten individuals annually.

More than 5,000 trees and 650 varieties of plants accent the campus with colorful and fragrant flowers in the spring and brilliant leaves in the fall, transforming Mizzou into a botanic garden. The campus also features 18 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, 600-year-old Chinese stone lions and Thomas Jefferson's original tombstone.

The collection of the MU Libraries is the largest in the state. Ellis, Engineering, Geology, Health Sciences, Journalism, Law, mathematical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine have more than 3 million volumes and almost 7 million microforms.

In September 2005, Sports Illustrated on Campus named the renovated and expanded Mizzou Student Recreation Complex as the No. 1 college facility in the country. MU students voted to increase their fees to pay for the $50 million complex, one of the ten largest facilities of its kind.

Mizzou's Campus Dining Services received a 2005 Restaurants & Institutions' Ivy Award, one of the most prestigious national honors for restaurants and food service operations. Past Ivy winners include Tony's Restaurant in St. Louis, the Ritz-Carlton in Boston and the Rainbow Room in New York.

MU has $314 million in building projects in design or construction projects . The latest projects include renovation of the Residence on Francis Quadrangle, the oldest building on campus; new Southwest campus and College Avenue residence halls; the expansion of Brady Commons; and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute.

MU's Museum of Art and Archaeology possesses the third most extensive art collection in Missouri and the campus Museum of Anthropology is the only anthropology museum in the state.

MU's School of Health Professions is the only state-supported allied health school on a campus with an academic medical center.

In MU's School of Journalism newspaper, magazine and photojournalism students gain hands-on experience as they produce print and online publications, including three magazines and a daily newspaper. Broadcast students train at radio, TV and online outlets. Strategic communication students create advertising, public relations and marketing strategies for local and national clients.

MU Is an Economic Engine for Missouri

The generosity of alumni and friends has made it possible for Mizzou to top the initial $600 million For All We Call Mizzou campaign goal. In September 2005, officials announced a new goal of $1 billion, making MU the 24th public university in the nation to engage in such a large campaign. So far private gifts have supported 448 new scholarships and 63 endowed faculty positions.

Research at MU prepares students to succeed in a knowledge-based economy, solves problems and improves lives, leads to innovations and new companies, attracts new money to the state and helps make Missouri and the U.S. more competitive.

Based on the most recent data from the National Science Foundation, MU ranks No. 1 among all institutions in the Association of American Universities in growth of federal research funding over the past decade.

From 1996 to 2006, MU scientists spent $1.8 billion in research funds, most of which came to Missouri from outside the state. Those funds had an economic impact on Missouri of $3 billion. It takes MU's high-quality faculty and infrastructure capacity to attract multi-million dollar federal research grants. The state has built this capacity, or “critical mass,” at MU.

MU's annual $220 million of total research and development spending generates some $440 million in economic activity and supports 9,000 jobs. This means significant new dollars for the Missouri economy that create jobs and generate economic benefit for Missourians. The loss of Mizzou’s research operation would be the same as losing 22 companies with annual revenues of $10 million each.

In recent years, MU scientists have received some 60 patents that have generated nearly $18 million in licensing revenue, while more than 20 start-up companies have been incorporated.

MU leads Missouri and is 13th in the country in National Science Foundation funding for life sciences research. In 2005, MU had 44 percent and Washington University had 41 percent of the state's NSF funding.

Last year, the University's business development extension initiatives served 3,300 clients, helped to create $466 million in increased sales and added or retained 5,657 jobs.

The Show-Me Select Replacement Heifer program helps livestock producers improve their production efficiency and marketing. The program has returned $16 million to 565 producers. Overall impact of the program exceeds $3.5 million annually.

MU Is a Nationally Competitive, Global University

MU is one of only 34 public U.S. universities, and the only public institution in Missouri, to be selected for membership in the Association of American Universities and designated "comprehensive doctoral with medical/veterinary" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. AAU membership recognizes excellence in teaching and research endeavors and includes only the nation's top-tier institutions. The other AAU member in Missouri is Washington University.

MU provides all the benefits of two universities in one — it's a major land-grant institution and Missouri's largest public research university. Many states support two, such as Michigan and Michigan State and Iowa and Iowa State.

MU is one of only six public universities in the country with medicine, veterinary medicine, law, engineering and agriculture all on one campus. More Missouri physicians have received their medical degree from MU than from any other university. Two-thirds of Missouri veterinarians are MU graduates. Sixteen percent of all attorneys in Missouri were educated at MU's law school.

Of the 68,516 classroom teachers in Missouri, 14 percent received their degrees from Mizzou and 23 percent of the state's 3,195 principals are alumni.

According to a November 2005 New York Times article, MU ranks 7th in the nation in the number of graduates who are chief executive officers of companies listed in Standard and Poor's 500 Index. Examples include Gary Rainwater, BS EE '69, Ameren; Matthew Rose, BS BA '81, Burlington Northern; and Dave Novak, BJ '74, Yum! Brands. MU alumni are also two of the nation's governors.

MU sends more students to study overseas than any other college or university in Missouri. Currently, MU offers more than 400 study abroad programs in 55 countries. Last year, nearly 800 MU students studied abroad.

Innovation at Mizzou

More than 1,000 faculty life scientists at MU are working to improve human and animal health, food and the environment. Areas of strength include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, animal and human reproductive biology, aging, plant genomics and biotechnology, geo-spatial informatics, bioengineering, rural economic development policy, math education, nanoscience and nanotechnology, cognitive and neurodevelopmental sciences, exercise physiology, autism, nuclear medicine and comparative medicine.

MU boasts some of the world's top scientists in wheat, corn and soybean research and is a top-ranking university for the amount of funding it receives from the National Science Foundation for plant genomic research.

MU is home to the world's most powerful university research reactor and is the largest U.S. producer of radioisotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

MU is a national leader in comparative medicine; researchers collaborate, sharing discoveries, innovations and treatments benefiting both animals and humans.

The Southwestern Bell Science Education Center involves MU scientists, science teachers and schools to strengthen science education in Missouri schools. MU also was recently recognized as a national leader in mathematics education with a $10 million National Science Foundation grant to establish the Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum.

MU Is Improving the Quality of Life

As Missouri's land grant institution and largest public research university, MU has a statewide mission to improve the public welfare. Every year, more than one million Missourians turn to MU and its extension programs to help them continue their education, solve problems and make informed decisions.

MU works hard to make college affordable. Since 2000, total student enrollment has increased by 20 percent while MU expenditures for financial aid have increased by 42 percent to $69 million. This figure does not include loans or employment.

The University of Missouri academic medical center has more than 6,000 professionals who care for patients from every county in Missouri. In FY05, they conducted more than 590,000 clinic visits, performed more than 17,000 surgeries and delivered 1,500 babies. They also provided more than $43 million in charity and uncompensated care to Missouri patients.

MU Health Care provides rural patients with better access to high-quality health care through its nationally recognized Missouri Telehealth Network, which has 60 sites in 27 Missouri counties.

More than 100,000 youth from across the state participate in University of Missouri Extension 4-H clubs or 4-H school enrichment programs each year.

The Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs, the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute and the Rural Policy Research Institute make objective contributions to state and national public policy. MU's Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis is the major Missouri source for demographic and economic data analysis used in the development and evaluation of economic policy.

Each year scientists at the Veterinary Medical diagnostic Laboratory conduct more than 200,000 diagnostic tests to help determine the cause of death and disease in animals.

University Extension brings lifelong learning opportunities to Missourians in all walks of life. Annually, more than 100,000 people — including teachers, health care professionals, lawyers, firefighters and police officers — gain the latest knowledge in their professions while participating in continuing education opportunities offered through Extension and MU's schools and colleges.