Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University was founded in 1853. Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College originated in grants of land made by the U.S. government beginning in 1806. In 1853, the Louisiana General Assembly established the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy near Pineville, Louisiana.

LSU’s instructional programs include 225 undergraduate degrees, graduateprofessional degrees, and graduate certificates. The student body consists of more than 30,000 students from 49 states and almost 100 foreign countries. University is a member of the American Council on Education, an organization of accredited post-secondary educational institutions founded in 1918; the Association of Public and Land-Grant Colleges, founded in 1962 to represent the major public universities and land-grant institutions; and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, a select group of leading public institutions of higher education.

LSU holds a prominent position in American higher education and is committed to meeting the challenge of pursuing intellectual development for its students, expanding the bounds of knowledge through research, and creating economic opportunities for Louisiana. It is in a state of dynamic transformation– changing and evolving to meet the needs of its students, faculty, and the people of Louisiana. Enriched by Louisiana’s natural and cultural distinctiveness, the community of learning at Louisiana’s national flagship university prepares students to meet the environmental, social, economic, scientific, creative, and educational challenges that confront us locally and globally in the 21st century.

The university is located on more than 2,000 acres in the southern part of the city, bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. The university’s more than 250 principal buildings are grouped on a 650-acre plateau that constitutes the main part of the campus.