Wichita State University

Posted on Monday, January 24, 2011

This was posted in Universities in Kansas

Wichita State University is committed to providing comprehensive educational opportunities in an urban setting. Through teaching, scholarship and public service the University seeks to equip both students and the larger community with the educational and cultural tools they need to thrive in a complex world, and to achieve both individual responsibility in their own lives and effective citizenship in the local, national and global community.

It’s what separates Wichita State from the other guys. As Kansas’ only urban-serving research state university, WSU can offer things the others can’t. By combining a traditional college atmosphere with the endless possibilities of the state’s biggest city, Wichita State is the only school in Kansas that can provide an educational experience that goes beyond the limits of a typical college town. Bottom line – because we’re in Wichita, Kansas, Wichita State students have advantages other students don’t. Period.

When Wichita State first opened its doors in 1895 students rode horses to class, telegraph machines were cutting-edge technology, and Wichita had only been a city for roughly 25 years.A lot has changed.

The past century has featured a remarkable evolution for Wichita State, one in which the school has grown from a small Christian college to a large state university — punctuated by two name changes and a few thousand extra students.

Together with the City of Wichita, WSU has built one of the most unique partnerships in Kansas, one that over the years has propelled each to new heights. It’s a relationship that both supplies the lifeblood of a thriving community and makes it possible to provide the most well-rounded education in the region.

Undergraduate admissions to Wichita State are classified as “selective” by US News & World Report and The Princeton Review and according to the data are at the average selective for any public university in Kansas. The 2007 freshman class had an acceptance rate of 86 percent, and the enrolled freshman class had the following composition: students graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class (57 percent); the top 25 percent of their high school class (91 percent); the top 50 percent of their high school class (99 percent). 27 percent of the freshman class scored in the top 1 percent of the SAT or ACT, while 72 percent scored in the top 35 percent. The middle 40 percent range of ACT scores for the enrolled class was 26-30, with an average ACT score of 27. Of the 6,122 members of the 2006 freshman class, 290 had been named valedictorian of their high school’s graduating class.

Mission
Wichita State University pursues its mission utilizing the human diversity of Wichita, the state’s largest metropolitan community, and its many cultural, economic and social resources. The University faculty and professional staff are committed to the highest ideals of teaching, scholarship and public service, as the University strives to be a comprehensive, metropolitan university of national stature.

Courses Offered