Truman State University

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School Location

100 E Normal
Kirksville, MO 63501-4221

General information

(660) 785-4000

Type of institution:	Public, 4-year or above
Federal Aid:	Institution has a Program Participation Agreement with the US Department of Education for eligible students to receive Pell Grants and other federal aid.
Degrees offered:	Bachelor degrees, Masters degrees
Carnegie classification:	Master's Colleges and Universities (medium programs)
Number of students:	5,920 (2007)
2009-2008 Undergraduate application fee:	----

About this School

Truman State University is a public liberal arts and sciences university in Missouri. It is located in the city of Kirksville in northeastern Missouri, and is named after President Harry Truman, the only American President from the state. Up until 1996, the school was known as Northeast Missouri State University. The name was changed, along with its mission statement, in order to attract more attention from the media, state government, and potential students.

History

Truman State University was founded in 1867 by Joseph Baldwin as the First Missouri Normal School and Commercial College. Baldwin is considered a pioneer in education and his school quickly gained official recognition in 1870 by the Missouri General Assembly, which designated it as the first public teaching college in Missouri. A region of 25 Missouri counties was designated as the school's college district and still remains. The counties are as follows: Adair, Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Chariton, Clark, Howard, Knox, Lewis, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Macon, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, St. Charles, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby, Sullivan and Warren. The school continued to grow and Basil Brewer wrote the school song "The Purple and White" in 1902. The song's popularity prompted the university to adopt the school colors as purple and white. Thirteen years later, in 1915, the bulldog became the official mascot of the college (two bulldogs are currently the "mascots" of the university, Spike and Simone). In 1924 a massive fire destroyed Old Baldwin Hall and the library. Both Baldwin Hall and the library were rebuilt, with funds for the new library donated by alumnus Joseph Pickler. The broad pond in the quadrangle (a prominent feature in pre-1924 photographs of the campus) was pumped dry in a futile attempt to put out the fire. The depression was filled in with debris from the ruined buildings and covered over. The college was renamed Northeast Missouri State University in 1972, and in 1983 the university was awarded the G. Theodore Mitau Award for Innovation and Change in Higher Education by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Northeast Missouri State continued its push for excellence and had not gone unnoticed by the state government. On June 20, 1985, Governor John Ashcroft signed a bill that designated the university as Missouri's only statewide public liberal arts and sciences university. This changed the school's mission to a state-wide rather than a regional (northeast) objective. As such, nearly 100 programs were dropped in the span of six years, including all two-year programs and those not fulfulling the liberal arts mission. The school continued to win praise from such publications as US News and World Report and its reputation spread. Many of the students by-passed crowded and costly alternatives in favor of Truman's small size, pleasant small-town atmosphere and rigorous academic studies in the liberal arts and sciences. By the 1990s, the university no longer was solely a teachers' college. The college had a nationally-known accounting division, schools of science and mathematics, computer science and literature. Indeed, just 10 years after Governor Ashcroft's designation, Governor Mel Carnahan signed legislation renaming the school Truman State University. Several schools had petitioned for the Truman name, but only Northeast Missouri State University demonstrated the academic excellence and national reputation worthy of being named after Missouri's only president. Truman State University has since become Missouri's premier public liberal arts and sciences institution, informally dubbing itself the "Harvard of the Midwest". Over the years, students have come up with various jests on this nickname, such as the "Princeton of the Prairie" and "MIT of Highway 63", especially after several other schools began to identify themselves as the "Harvard of the Midwest". Currently, there are approximately 6,000 students earning degrees in 43 undergraduate and 9 graduate programs. Ninety-four percent of graduates go on to work and study fields related to their degree of study. President Barbara Dixon is the current president of the university. She is the 14th president of the school. The names and legacies of past university presidents continue to live on in buildings and monuments around campus.

Tuition and Fees	2009-2008	2008-2007	2007-2006
Academic year prices for full-time, first-time undergraduate students
In-State	$ 6,692	$ 6,432	$ 6,092
Out of State	$ 11,543	$ 11,042	$ 10,522
Books and Supplies	$ 1,000	$ 900	$ 900
On-Campus
Room and board	$ 6,290	$ 6,045	$ 5,790
Other Expenses	$ 3,800	$ 3,800	$ 3,800
Off Campus
Room and board	----	----	----
Other Expenses	----	----	----
Off Campus w/ family
Other Expenses	----	----	----

Financial aid 2006-2007

Financial aid to full-time, first-time undergraduate students

Type of Aid	Percentage of students receiving aid	Average amount of aid they received
Federal Grants (scholarship/fellowship)	13%	$ 3,352
State/Local grants (scholarship/fellowship)	31%	$ 2,020
Institutional grants (scholarship/fellowship)	94%	$ 4,874
Loans to students	42%	$ 3,954

End of file for Truman State University.