The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU or just Kansas ) is a public research university with campuses located in Lawrence, Kansas City, and Overland Park, Kansas with the main campus being located atop Mount Oread in Lawrence. The University was founded in 1865 by the citizens of Lawrence under a charter from the Kansas Legislature. It claims the title of flagship university of the state of Kansas.
The University's Medical Center and Hospital are located in Kansas City, Kansas. The Edwards Campus is in Overland Park, Kansas in the Kansas City metro area. There are also educational/research sites in Parsons, Topeka and a branch of the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita.
Enrollment at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses was 26,342 students for the 2007-2008 academic year; an additional 2,918 students were enrolled at the KU Medical Center for a total enrollment of 29,260 students across the three campuses. The Lawrence campus and KU Medical Center combined employ 2,201 faculty members.
Along with 43 nationally recognized programs, U.S. News & World Report stated that the University of Kansas ranked as the 18th most popular University in the United States as of 2008. It also ranks 11th in the nation for study abroad involvement with nearly one-third of students participating.
KU is home to the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, the Beach Center on Disability, and radio station KJHK. The university is host to several notable museums including the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, the KU Museum of Anthropology, and the Spencer Museum of Art. The University is one of 60 members of the prestigious Association of American Universities.
History
On February 20, 1863, Kansas Governor Thomas Carney signed into law a bill creating the state university in Lawrence. The law was conditioned upon a gift from Lawrence of a $15,000 endowment fund and a site for the university, in or near the town, of not less than forty acres (160,000 m²) of land. If Lawrence failed to meet these conditions, Emporia instead of Lawrence would get the university.
The site selected for the university was a hill known as Mount Oread, which was owned by former Kansas Governor Charles L. Robinson. Robinson and his wife Sara bestowed the 40-acre site to the State of Kansas in exchange for land elsewhere. The philanthropist Amos Adams Lawrence donated $10,000 of the necessary endowment fund, and the citizens of Lawrence raised the remaining cash by issuing notes backed by Governor Carney. On November 2, 1863, Governor Carney announced that Lawrence had met the conditions to get the state university, and the following year the university was officially organized.
Work on the first college building was begun in September 1865. The university opened for classes on September 12, 1866, and the first class graduated in 1873.
Academics
The University is a large, state-sponsored university. In addition to a large liberal arts college, it has schools of Allied Health, Architecture, Design, and Planning, Business, Education, Engineering, Arts,Music, Journalism and Mass Communication, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Social Welfare. (The study of academic sociology originated at the University in 1890.) The University also operates a selective Honors Program, with approximately 300 undergraduate students admitted each year, offering classes in many of these areas.
According to the journal DesignIntelligence , which annually publishes "America's Best Architecture and Design Schools," the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Kansas was named the best in the Midwest and ranked 6th among all undergraduate architecture programs in the U.S in 2007.
In 2007, the City Management and Urban Policy program at the University of Kansas was ranked 1st in the nation by U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Graduate Schools". The report also recognized several programs for ranking in the top 25 among public universities.
The most recent edition of Peterson's Guide to Competitive College calls KU "one of America's premier universities." For more than a decade, The Fiske Guide to Colleges has awarded KU a four-star rating for academics, social life, and overall quality of university life.
In its 2009 list, U.S. News & World Report ranked KU as tied for 89th place in its ranking of the Best National Universities and #349 in its ranking of the World's Best Colleges and Universities. In 2006, the Report ranked Kansas as tied for 45th place in Public Universities. The Report surveys over 1,400 institutions of higher education in the United States.
School of Business
Main article: University of Kansas School of BusinessThe University of Kansas School of Business is a public business school located on the main campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. The KU School of Business was founded in 1924 and currently has more than 80 faculty members and approximately 1500 students.
Named one of the best business schools in the Midwest by Princeton Review, the KU School of Business has been continually accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for both its undergraduate and graduate programs in business and accounting. KU is one of only three universities in the Kansas City region to offer an MBA degree with this highest and most prestigious level of accreditation.
School of Law
Main article: University of Kansas School of LawThe University of Kansas School of Law, in Lawrence, Kansas, is the top law school in the state of Kansas according to the 2008 U.S. News & World Report. The magazine also ranked KU Law as a top-tier law school at 73rd and rated it a "best buy." Classes are held in Green Hall at W 15th St and Burdick Dr, which is named after former dean James Green.
School of Engineering
Main article: University of Kansas School of EngineeringThe KU School of Engineering is an ABET accredited, public engineering school located on the main campus. The School of Engineering was officially founded in 1891, although engineering degrees were awarded as early as 1873.
In the U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Colleges, 2009 issue, KU’s School of Engineering was ranked 41st among public schools nationwide. National rankings for individual programs included Petroleum Engineering at ninth and Aerospace Engineering at 24th.
Notable alumni include: Alan Mulally (BS/MS), President and CEO of Ford Motor Company, Lou Montulli, co-founder of Netscape and author of the Lynx web browser, Brian McClendon (BSEE 1986), VP of Engineering at Google, Charles E. Spahr (1934), former CEO of Standard Oil of Ohio.
Medical Center
The University of Kansas Medical Center, in Kansas City, Kansas, treats over 19,000 patients per year. KU Med, as it is commonly known, consists of three basic schools: The School of Medicine, School of Nursing, and School of Allied Health. Furthermore, each of the three schools has its own programs of graduate study. As of the Spring 2007 semester, there were 2,769 students enrolled at KU Med. The Medical Center also offers third and fourth year students an opportunity to do rotations at the Wichita campus.
Edwards Campus
KU's Edwards Campus is in Overland Park, Kansas. Established in 1993, its goal is to provide adults with the opportunity to complete college degrees. About 2,100 students attend the Edwards Campus, with an average age of 32. Programs available at the Edwards Campus include developmental psychology, public administration, social work, systems analysis, engineering management and design.
Tuition and costs
The University of Kansas is repeatedly listed as one of the best buys in higher education by such publications as Kiplinger’s, the Fiske Guide to Colleges, Kaplan’s and the Princeton Review. Tuition at KU is 13 percent below the national average, according to the College Board, and the University remains a best buy in the region. Its 2004-05 in-state tuition and fees of $4,737 were lower than the University of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and most other public universities.
Beginning in the 2007-2008 academic year, first-time freshman at KU will pay a fixed tuition rate for 48 months according to the Four-Year Tuition Compact passed by the Kansas Board of Regents. According to the compact, tuition will be $213 per credit hour for in-state freshman and $560 for out-of-state freshmen. For students who do not take part in the compact, current per-credit-hour tuition is $194.80 for in-state undergraduates and $511.70 for out-of-state undergraduates; these rates are subject to annual increases. The schools of architecture, business, engineering, fine arts, journalism, law, and pharmacy charge additional fees.
Computing innovations
KU's School of Business launched interdisciplinary management science graduate studies in operations research during Fall Semester 1965. This innovative program provided the foundation for decision science applications supporting NASA Project Apollo Command Capsule Recovery Operations.
KU's
UMKC Athletics
Official site of University of Missouri - Kansas City Kangaroos athletics.
University Press of Kansas
Publisher of scholarly books in political science, military history, American history, presidential studies, government and public policy, environmental studies, and philosophy.
University of Missouri - Kansas City
The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional ...
University of Kansas Medical Center
The University of Kansas Medical Center, a nationally recognized biomedical research center located in Kansas City Kansas, offers educational programs through its Schools of ...
The University of Kansas
The official home page of the University of Kansas. ... KU United Way needs the help of KU faculty and staff to help reach its goal to allocate funds to our 24 Partner Agencies and ...
Physics and Astronomy
The University of Kansas Department of Physics and Astronomy 1082 Malott 1251 Wescoe Hall Dr. Lawrence, KS 66045-7582: Phone: 785 - 864-4626 FAX: 785 -864-5262
University of Kansas School of Nursing
Admissions and program information attending the University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, Kansas.
Employment - The University of Kansas
Employment opportunities at the University of Kansas. ... Employment related listings and resources for faculty, staff and students at all campuses.
University of Kansas School of Engineering: Listing
Official site with programs, departments, research, and people.
University of Kansas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU or just Kansas) is a public research university with campuses located in Lawrence, Kansas City, and Overland Park, Kansas with the ...