Northwest Missouri State University

Northwest Missouri State University Summary

Northwest Missouri State University is a state university in Maryville, Missouri. The campus, based on the design for Forest Park (St. Louis) at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, is the official Missouri State Arboretum. In 1905 the Missouri Legislature created five districts in the state to establish teaching standards or norms (hence the original name Normal school) in a state teacher college network. Maryville won the competition for the Northwest district with an offer to donate 86 acres (on coincidentally the northwest corner of town) and $58,000 on the site of a Methodist Seminary. The other districts in the network were to be at Kirksville (Northeast – now Truman State), Cape Girardeau (Southeast), Springfield (Southwest – now Missouri State), and Warrensburg (Central – now Central Missouri). In 1919 the school was granted the name Northwest Missouri State Teacher’s College, and with that the ability to grant baccalaureate degrees. In 1949 the name was shrunk to Northwest Missouri State College by the Board of Regents. In 1969, Missouri Governor Warren Hearnes pushed for switching St. Joseph Junior College from a two-year school into a four-year state college. Opening a new four-year state school within 45 miles of Maryville (along with a delay in converting U.S. Route 71 to Maryville to four-lane status until ultimately 2002) was perceived in Maryville as an attempt to kill the school (and the town with which it is intertwined). Its name changed to Northwest Missouri State University. Main article: Missouri State Arboretum Northwest has long billed itself as the “most beautiful state university campus” in the state of Missouri thanks its landscaped tree lined campus sporting more than species of trees. In 1993 the state legislature designated Northwest the official Missouri State Arboretum. In 1998 the Bearcats won the NCAA Division II national football championship by going 15-0—the first time a Division II school had won 15 games in history and the first time a Northwest school won a team national championship in any sport. Interest in Northwest has prompted it to play one game a year at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri with Pittsburg State University. In 2000 Northwest began offering an on campus course for gifted high school students who spend their junior and senior years of high school living on the campus completing their high school courses as well as two years of college work. In 2004 Northwest entered into an agreement to become the fifth campus of the University of Missouri System and change its name to the University of Missouri–Northwest. Northwest approached the University of Missouri noting that University of Missouri–Columbia is the only state school north of the Missouri River to offer doctorate degrees while six state schools south of the river offer the degrees (the schools in Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis along with the state universities at Cape Girardeau, Springfield and Warrensburg). Northwest was motivated to approach the system after Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri proposed changing its status so that it could offer masters degrees—a move that was perceived to encroach on Northwest’s master’s turf since the two schools are close geographically. In 2005 the Missouri Legislature approved the expansion of Missouri Western but let the agreement for Northwest sunset in early 2006. In November 2004 Ventria Bioscience entered into an agreement with Northwest to create a facility near the university and to relocate its operations, research and production to the state. On April 12, 2005 Anheuser-Busch, the number one buyer of rice in the United States said it would not purchase rice grown in Missouri if genetically modified rice were to be grown in the state. Anheuser-Busch and Ventria both agreed to this proposal, but in December 2005 Ventria withdrew from the agreement with Northwest due in part to a dramatic reduction in the amount of financial support offered by the state government.

Summary content courtesy of Wikipedia.

Northwest Missouri State University History

Northwest was founded in 1905. The Bearcat name was established in 1916 by a competing university’s basketball team to recognize Northwest’s athletes as formidable opponents.

Northwest Missouri State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. It has historically had an emphasis on agriculture, education, and business. It is classed as a Master’s College and University I by the Carnegie Institute.

Northwest Missouri State University Academics

Academics are divided between three colleges: Arts & Sciences, Education & Human Services, and Business & Professional Studies. There are more than twenty academic departments offering dozens of major and minor areas of study. To ensure their students are retained, NMSU offers a multitude of academic support and retention programs, including SOAR, Discover (career services), the Exploring Majors program to help determine a student’s focus, and general and practicum classes.

Northwest Missouri State University has academic programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level. There are 3 colleges: the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and the College of Business & Professional Studies. There is also a graduate school.

Bachelor’s degrees are offered in a variety of fields within the various academic colleges. Degrees at the bachelor’s level can be received in such areas as animal science, broadcasting, business, English, horticulture, industrial psychology, journalism, physics, public relations, Spanish, theatre, and wildlife ecology & conservation. There are pre-professional programs in forestry, engineering, law, mortuary science, and many health fields. Minors are available in many of the major areas and also in fields such as English writing, French, gerontology, and nutrition. There are 2 year programs in farm operations, medical administrative assistant, and office systems.

Graduate programs are offered in 38 master’s level programs, among them business administration, education, agriculture, guidance and counseling, recreation, and biology. Most of the programs are concentrated in education; the only Master of Arts degrees offered are in English and history. Aside from biology, the physical sciences are not represented. The Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degree is offered through the College of Education in the following areas: superintendency, secondary principalship, and elementary principalship. There are no doctoral programs.

Northwest Missouri State University Unique Programs

Northwest Missouri offers The Missouri Academy. This two-year, residential program replaces the junior and senior year of high school for skilled, advanced high school students and acclimates them to the college experience. The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences produces graduates who go on to i