University of Missouri--Columbia

The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. Founded in 1839, MU was the first public university west of the Mississippi River. It has been a member of the Association of American Universities since 1908 and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." Enrolling 31,041 students in 2023, it offers more than 300 degree programs in thirteen major academic divisions. Its Missouri School of Journalism, founded by Walter Williams in 1908, was established as the world's first journalism school; it publishes a daily newspaper, the Columbia Missourian, and operates NBC affiliate KOMU. The University of Missouri Research Reactor Center is the sole source of isotopes in nuclear medicine in the United States. The university operates University of Missouri Health Care, running several hospitals and clinics in Mid-Missouri. Its NCAA Division I athletic teams are the Missouri Tigers and compete in the Southeastern Conference. The American tradition of homecoming is claimed to have originated at MU.