The University
The University of Missouri-Columbia was established in 1839 and is the oldest state university west of the Mississippi River. The University is the flagship campus of the four campus state University System. It is part of the SEC athletic conference and is one of the few institutions nationally which is home to a College of Veterinary Medicine, a School of Medicine, a School of Law and a College of Agriculture all on the same campus. This provides a rich environment for the training of biomedical scientists.
The student population at MU is approximately 28,000. The Graduate School has more than 6,000 graduate students in over 165 degree programs. The University of Missouri-Columbia garners nearly $162,000,000 annually in extramural research support.
The City
MU is located in Columbia, Missouri which lies halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City. With a population of over 85,000 Columbia is a pleasant Midwest university city that has consistently been ranked highly in Money Magazine’s annual list of the most desirable places to live in the United States.
Geographically, Columbia is situated within the Ozark foothills and rolling farmlands of Missouri. The scenic Ozark Mountains, the Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Reservoir, and Mark Twain National Forest are all a short distance from Columbia. This city is the midpoint of the Katy Trail State Park (below), a 240-mile hiking/biking path that extends across the state. You can find out more about Columbia by visiting the following sites: