The University of Missouri was founded in 1839 in Columbia, Mo., as the first public university west of the Mississippi River and the first state university in Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase territory. Today, MU is a $2.1 billion enterprise and an important investment for the state and nation.

MU provides all the benefits of two universities in one: It's a major land-grant institution with a statewide mission of service to citizens and Missouri's largest public research university. Considered one of the nation's top-tier institutions, Mizzou is the flagship campus of the four-campus University of Missouri System. It is one of only 34 public universities, and the only public institution in Missouri, to be selected for membership in the Association of American Universities.