History
Northwest Missouri State University is a coeducational, primarily residential four-year university with an enrollment of more than 6,800 students. It offers a broad range of undergraduate and selected graduate programs on its Maryville campus as well as its Northwest-Kansas City location at the Northland Innovation Center and through Northwest Online.
Founded in 1905 as the state’s Fifth District Normal School to provide teachers for schools within a 19-county region in northwest Missouri, the University has evolved into a comprehensive state institution that offers more than 120 undergraduate programs, 35 master’s degrees, three specialist degrees, a cooperative doctoral program and six certificate programs. The University offers six professional schools that are closely aligned with specific professions (School of Agricultural Sciences, Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth School of Business, School of Communication and Mass Media, School of Computer Science and Information Systems, School of Education, and School of Health Science and Wellness), and five academic departments that contain broader disciplines comprise the University’s College of Arts and Sciences (Department of Fine and Performing Arts; Department of Humanities and Social Sciences; Department of Language, Literature and Writing; Department of Mathematics and Statistics; and the Department of Natural Sciences.)
Northwest outperforms statewide peers in the areas of retention, graduation and placement. Profession-based learning is embedded in all areas of study at Northwest and gives students opportunities to build their résumés with collaborative experiences that include the Horace Mann Laboratory School, National Public Radio affiliate KXCV, the R.T. Wright Farm, Mozingo Outdoor Education Recreation Area and Knacktive, a student-driven integrated digital marketing communications agency.
In alignment with its mission of focusing on student success – every student, every day – Northwest’s Student Success Center, located in the B.D. Owens Library, provides a centralized hub that supports student learning and contributes to students’ growth and development from orientation to graduation. The center provides a number of free services focused on transitioning, advising, supporting and connecting students to academic resources.
Furthermore, Northwest’s vibrant and diverse learning community offers more than 150 student organizations, and textbooks and a laptop are included in tuition, which is among the lowest in the nation, saving students an estimated $7,300 over four years. Northwest also offers 1,200 student employment positions, allowing students to build professional skills through its internationally benchmarked student employment program.
Northwest places an emphasis on providing an exceptional student experience that places high value on scholarship and lifelong learning, intercultural competence, collaboration, respect and integrity, strategic thinking and excellence.