University of Missouri

The University of Missouri is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in 1839 as 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.