Kansas State University: A Legacy of Excellence and Forward-Thinking Vision
Kansas State University (KSU), often referred to as Kansas State or K-State, stands as a prominent public land-grant research university. Its main campus is located in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. As the state's first public institution of higher learning, opened in 1863, K-State holds a rich history and a commitment to shaping the future through education, research, and engagement. Governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, the university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities - Very high research activity," signifying its dedication to advancing knowledge and innovation.
Historical Overview
The effort to establish the school began in 1861, the year that Kansas was admitted to the United States. One of the new state legislature's top priorities involved establishing a state university. That year, the delegation from Manhattan, led by New England abolitionist, Isaac Goodnow, introduced a bill to convert the private Blue Mont Central College in Manhattan, incorporated in 1858, into the state university. But the bill establishing the university in Manhattan was controversially vetoed by Governor Charles L. Robinson.
The early years of the institution witnessed debate over whether the college should provide a focused agricultural education or a full liberal arts education. During this era, the tenor of the school shifted with the tenure of college presidents. For example, President John A. Anderson (1873-1879) favored a limited education and President George T. Fairchild (1879-1897) favored a more extensive curriculum. In November 1928, the school was accredited by the Association of American Universities (AAU) as a school whose graduates were deemed capable of advanced graduate work. The name of the school was changed in 1931 to Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science. In 1959, the Kansas legislature changed the name again to Kansas State University of Agriculture and Applied Science to reflect a growing number of graduate programs.
Leadership and Vision
Milton S. Eisenhower served as president from 1943 to 1950. Influenced by his work with UNESCO, he pursued a number of progressive reforms at Kansas State College to promote democracy, citizenship, and global peacebuilding. On June 15, 2009, Kirk Schulz became the 13th president of Kansas State University. In March 2010 he announced his K-State 2025 plan. The initiative is designed to elevate K-State to a top 50 nationally recognized research university by 2025. In 2011, during Schulz's tenure, the Olathe branch opened. In late April 2016, Ret. Gen. Richard Myers was named interim president. The current president is Richard Linton.
Campuses and Academic Divisions
Kansas State University has 65 academic departments in nine colleges: Agriculture; Architecture, Planning and Design; Arts and Sciences; Business Administration; Education; Engineering; Health and Human Sciences; Technology and Aviation; and Veterinary Medicine. K-State’s academic offerings are administered through nine colleges, including the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Technology and Aviation in Salina. Branch campuses are in Salina and Olathe. The Kansas State University Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus is home to the College of Technology and Aviation. In 1991, the former Kansas Technical Institute in Salina, Kansas was merged with Kansas State University by an act of the Kansas legislature. The College of Technology and Aviation is at the Salina campus. In 2018, the Kansas Board of Regents approved that the name of the College of Engineering should be changed to the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering.
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Campus Environment and Resources
The main campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan now covers 668 acres (2.70 km2). The campus is historic, featuring more buildings built before 1910 than any other campus in Kansas. Holtz Hall, built in 1876, is the oldest free-standing building on campus. However, the oldest building on campus is the original section of Seaton Hall, which now forms Seaton Court, facing the courtyard of Hale Library and Eisenhower Hall. The predominant architectural feature of the Manhattan campus is its use of native limestone. This includes the signature building at Kansas State University, Anderson Hall, developed in three stages between 1877 and 1885. Anderson Hall, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has housed the university's administrative offices for more than a century. Dickens Hall was constructed in 1908 and currently houses the statistics and philosophy departments. Several of the buildings on campus were heavily damaged by an EF4 tornado on June 11, 2008. Since 2014, the Main campus has been under significant renovation to accommodate infrastructure changes.
Transportation and Accommodation
K-State and the City of Manhattan have teamed up to provide a shuttle bus service, and cars are permitted on campus. Manhattan Regional Airport is located 10 minutes from campus and provides daily flights three times a day to Dallas/Ft.Worth and twice a day to Chicago- O'Hare.
Directions to Campus:From I-70 exit 313: Turn North on Hwy 77. Manhattan is 8.5 miles north of I-70. Immediately after crossing the bridge over the Kansas River, take the K-18/Ft. Riley Blvd exit (exit to the right). Turn right onto Ft. Riley Blvd. Follow Ft. Riley Blvd. to 17th street. Turn right on 17th and continue until you reach campus. The parking garage is available to visitors on campus at the corner of 17th and Anderson Ave.
From I-70 exit 303: Turn left onto K-18. Follow K-18 for approximately 12 miles. Turn left on 17th street and continue until campus. The parking garage is available to visitors on campus at the corner of 17th and Anderson Ave.
Manhattan offers 12 national chain motels, all within a few minutes from campus. There are also several bed & breakfast establishments within the city of Manhattan.
Research and Resources
The university has had a long-standing interest in agriculture, particularly native Great Plains plant and animal life. The Kansas State University Gardens is an on-campus horticulture display garden that serves as an educational resource and learning laboratory for K-State students and the public. The Konza Prairie is a native tallgrass prairie preserve south of Manhattan, which is co-owned by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University and operated as a field research station by the department of biology. In 2006, K-State dedicated the Biosecurity Research Institute. The BRI, in Pat Roberts Hall, is a safe and secure location in which scientists and their collaborators can study high-consequence pathogens. The university's research facilities include the James R. Macdonald Laboratory for research in atomic, molecular and optical physics and the NASA Center for Gravitational Studies in Cellular and Developmental Biology.
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Media and Museums
Kansas State was involved in early experimentation with television and radio broadcasts. to air a regularly scheduled forecast. After a series of efforts to secure a more high-powered signal for the university - including a brief cooperation with John R. Brinkley - the Federal Radio Commission granted Kansas State a license to operate the television station W9XAK on March 9, 1932. It was the first television station in Kansas. Activity on the station peaked in 1933 and 1934, with original programs being produced three nights a week.
The university is home to several museums, including the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, the KSU Historic Costume and Textiles Museum, the K-State Insect Zoo, and the Chang, Chapman, and Kemper galleries, which feature faculty and student artwork. The former All-University Convocation lecture series - which began with a speech by Harry Golden on April 3, 1963, and ended in 1997 - brought to campus prominent leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Supreme Court Justices Byron White and William O. Douglas, Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, Rep. Shirley Chisholm, and thinkers such as Arthur C. Clarke.
Student Life
K-State has twelve residence halls on campus: Boyd Hall, Ford Hall, Goodnow Hall, Haymaker Hall, Marlatt Hall, Moore Hall, West Hall, Putnam Hall, Van Zile Hall, and the new Wefald hall, completed in 2016. The Living Community at Jardine, and Smurthwaite, as well as Jardine Apartments. Smurthwaite, Ford, and Boyd Halls are all female. Alma Mater is the name of the official school song of Kansas State University. In 1888, when the university was still Kansas State Agricultural College, H.W. Jones submitted the song as part of a school-wide contest. It was originally a four-stanza song and, over the years, some lyrics have changed. The song is sung at most K-State sporting events by fans, students and alumni. Wildcat Victory and Wabash Cannonball are both commonly used as fight songs. Wildcat Victory is used by many high schools as their fight song. Since the early 2010s, K-State students have chanted obscenities at sporting events toward their rival, the University of Kansas, to Darude's Sandstorm and the Wabash Cannonball.
Athletics
Intercollegiate sports began at Kansas State in the 1890s. The school's sports teams are called the Wildcats, and they participate in the NCAA Division I and the Big 12 Conference. The official school color is Royal Purple, making Kansas State one of very few schools (alongside Syracuse and Harvard) that have only one official color. White and silver are commonly used as complementary colors; white is mentioned with purple in the university's fight song "Wildcat Victory". Sports sponsored by the school include football, basketball, cross country and track, baseball, golf, tennis, rowing, women's soccer, and volleyball. Historically, African-American athletes at Kansas State were responsible for breaking the modern "color barrier" in Big Seven Conference athletics. Harold Robinson became the first African-American athlete in the conference in more than two decades and the first ever to receive a scholarship, playing football for Kansas State in 1949.
Rankings and Recognition
Kansas State University (KSU) students find that its size, staff, and resources encourage them to “succeed and be noticed for opportunities that will shape not only our careers, but who we are and who we are becoming.” Professors “go out of their way to help” students pursue their interests, and the Career Center connects students to “leadership opportunities [that] are always within an arm’s length,” helping them build skillsets to excel in their careers. Students learn from professionals in their fields through internships, research studies, or in the community with service programs like HandsOn Kansas State.
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News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, climbing 42 places to No. 88 among Best Value Schools. K-State rose seven spots to tie at No. 158 among National Universities and moved up to No. 84 among Top Public Schools, improving from No. As a public land-grant research university, we are setting the standard as a next-generation institution focused on teaching, research and engagement in Kansas and beyond. Recognized as a Top 100 Public University and a Top 100 Best Value, K-State is serving students and creating access to in-demand, high-quality degrees. World-class research takes place every day in our labs, fields and farms at K-State. Faculty and researchers engage in discoveries that solve challenges in Kansas and across the world. Learners can earn a K-State degree from anywhere in the world, with seven programs ranked in the Top 25 in the nation and a total of 10 programs in the Top 100.
The university also advanced across other major categories. K-State rose seven spots to tie at No. 158 among National Universities and moved up to No. 84 among Top Public Schools, improving from No. These gains build on steady progress over the past three years. Academic program rankings demonstrated additional movement. The undergraduate economics program experienced the most significant increase, jumping 22 places to tie at No. 139, while undergraduate psychology appeared in the rankings for the first time at No. 113. The undergraduate computer science program improved slightly to No. 125. The undergraduate business program ranked at No. 131, and the undergraduate engineering program at No. K-State’s recognition in value, access and outcomes also grew this year. The university climbed six places to No. 112 among Best Colleges for Veterans, while its standing in Top Performers on Social Mobility rose five spots to No. 396.
Overall - National Universities - No. Top Public Schools, National Universities - No. Best Value Schools, National Universities - No. Top Performers on Social Mobility, National Universities - No. Undergraduate Business Programs - No. Undergraduate Economics Programs - No. Undergraduate Computer Science Programs - No. Undergraduate Engineering Programs (Doctorate) - No. Undergraduate Psychology Programs - No. Best Colleges for Veterans - No.
Kansas State University ranks 25 out of 257 schools in the 2026 College Free Speech Rankings, earning a score of 70, a C- speech climate grade. Strong written policies continue to be a bright spot: K-State earns a “green light” Spotlight rating, and the Kansas Board of Regents adopted the Chicago Statement - applying to Kansas State.
Alumni Achievements
Beginning with the first graduating class in 1867, a number of Kansas State alumni have gone on to distinguished careers. NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center director De E. Belew and United States Senator from Kansas, Pat Roberts, are graduates of Kansas State University. Other graduates currently serve as the vice-president of Liberia, the president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the president of the University of the Virgin Islands. Kansas State alumni have been enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame, served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and have earned Emmy Awards and Olympic gold medals. Geraldine L. Richmond, the National Medal of Science laureate (2013) and Priestley Medalist (2018), received a B.S.
Faculty Recognition
In line with its roots as a land grant college, a number of Kansas State's most eminent faculty in its earliest years were in the areas of agriculture, science and military. Fred Albert Shannon was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1929, while teaching history at Kansas State. In 2008, CASE and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching honored Michael Wesch as national Professor of the Year. At least eight Kansas State faculty members have gone on to serve as university presidents, including Naomi B. Lynn.
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