Northwest Missouri State University

Northwest Missouri State University is a coeducational, primarily residential four-year university with an enrolment of about 7,300 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 127 undergraduate programs, 40 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 and five academic departments that contain broader disciplines comprise the University’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Northwest outperforms state-wide 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 resumes 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 several 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 USD 7,200 over four years. It 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.