Higher Education

Every attempt has been made to provide current, accurate, and consistent data in this database. There may be some differences due to sources, methodologies, or timing of data-assembly.

Washburn University University of Kansas Kansas State University Other Area Universities Washburn Tech Custom Training Process Washburn Tech Custom Training Video Washburn University Total Annual Graduates (2011-2012) Creative and Performing Arts Bachelor: 64 Total: 64 Education & Health, PE, Exercise Science Associate: 0 Bachelor: 80 Masters: 19 Total: 99 Social Sciences  Bachelor: 76 Masters: 7 Total: 83 Humanities Associate: 0 Bachelor: 63 Total: 63 Natural Sciences & Mathematics Associate: 2 Bachelor: 38 Total: 40 Business Bachelor: 124 Masters: 39 Total: 163 Nursing Bachelor: 134 Masters: 14 Total: 148 Allied Health Certificate: 109 Associate: 69 Bachelor: 65 Total: 243 Criminal Justice & Legal Studies Certificate: 3 Associate: 14 Bachelor: 70 Masters: 7 Total: 94 Human Services & Social Work Certificate: 19 Associate: 2 Bachelor: 49 Masters: 53 Total: 123 Law JD: 159 Other Certificate: 68 Associate: 34 Bachelor: 11 Masters: 5 Total: 118 Total Graduates Certificate: Associate: Bachelor: Masters: Law: Total: 1,397 Website 1700 SW College Ave. Topeka, Kansas  66621 Total Enrollment: 7,204 (Fall 2012) Full-Time: 4,741 Part-Time: 2,463 UG Full-Time:  4,107 Grad/Law Full-Time: 815   Washburn provides broadly-based liberal arts and professional education by combining the most effective modes of educating: accomplished faculty, small class sizes, state-of-the-art technology, modern learning techniques and unique opportunities available through an interactive campus and community relationship.  National recognition:  Washburn University School of Law's Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing Program was recognized again as a top program by U.S. News and World Report, in its 2012 rankings. Our legal writing program moved up to 13th in the nation. They are one of only a few law schools in the country with full-time, tenured and tenure-track legal writing faculty who are involved in service and scholarship in the national legal writing community.   Washburn University School of Law is one of only 20 law schools which were recognized as “Top Law Schools for Government Jobs” in the January 2012 issue of the National Jurist. In that same issue, Washburn Law was named one of the top 20 law schools for jobs as prosecutors and public defenders.   Washburn University School of Law was named a “Best Value” by National Jurist’s sister publication preLaw magazine. preLaw recognized 60 schools that offer an affordable education with great job prospects and bar pass rates (fall 2011).   Washburn Law was named one of the nation’s most outstanding law schools by The Princeton Review in its book The Best 167 Law Schools: 2012 Edition. Classes: 40% of undergraduate classes have fewer than 20 students. Faculty/student ratio: 15:1 Faculty: 83% of full-time faculty holds doctorates or the highest degree in their discipline. Academic programs: Washburn offers more than 200 programs leading to certification, associate, bachelor, master's and juris doctor degrees through the College of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Applied Studies, Business, Law and Nursing. An affiliate of the university is Washburn Institute of Technology, which provides high school and adult students significant opportunities to develop skills and knowledge relevant to contemporary career fields, such as health occupations, computer repair and networking and a variety of technology and industrial programs. Graduates: More than 1,200 degrees and certificates are awarded annually. Financial aid: More than $65 million in financial aid is available to students annually. Scholarships awarded from university resources are $6 million. Endowment funding: Washburn Endowment Association assets of approximately $152 million rank Washburn second in the state on a per-student basis among the public institutions. Internships: Each year, approximately 1,000 students participate in internship opportunities at more than 125 sites in Topeka. Athletics: Ten athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division II level in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Conference. WU sports are baseball, basketball (men and women), football, golf, soccer (women), softball, tennis (men and women) and volleyball. Alumni: The University boasts more than 40,000 alumni. WU alumni are found in every county in Kansas and in every state in the U.S. University funding sources: The University is funded by local sales tax, a state operating grant and student tuition. Mascot: The Ichabod. Washburn's mascot honors the school's early benefactor, Ichabod Washburn, a 19th century Massachusetts industrialist. The original design of the studious-looking, tuxedo-clad figure was created in 1938 by Bradbury Thompson (ba '34), who became an internationally recognized graphic artist. Also on campus: A major renovation of Whiting Field House was completed in 2009.  Other recent enhancements to campus in the past decade include the renovation of Stoffer Science Hall and the construction of a Student Recreation & Wellness Center, an art building and Washburn Village, a 192-bed apartment-style housing complex. The Mulvane Art Museum is the oldest accredited art museum west of the Mississippi River. The museum's permanent collection, though international in scope, emphasizes the work of artists of Kansas and of the Midwest. Washburn is home to KTWU, the first public television station in Kansas. Crane Observatory houses an 1898 Warner & Swasey refracting telescope. The Kuehne Bell Tower features a quartet of bells once housed in the clock tower of Thomas Gymnasium, which was destroyed during a 1966 tornado.  Is Washburn private or public? Washburn is a publicly funded, independently governed, state coordinated university. The school was established in 1865 as Lincoln College by a charter issued by the State of Kansas and the General Association of Congregational Ministers and Churches of Kansas. In 1941, the citizens of Topeka endorsed Washburn by voting to establish a municipal university, supported in part by the city and governed by a local board of regents. In 1999, the university's primary funding was moved from city property tax to county sales tax sources, with the school retaining status as a municipal subdivision of the state. In addition to local financial support, Washburn has received state funds since 1961, which have been coordinated by the Kansas Board of Regents since 1991. Washburn is governed by its own nine-member Board of Regents.  Washburn's place Washburn's place in the community extends beyond the traditional classroom. Hundreds of young people are welcomed to campus each summer as participants in sports camps, while others explore their creativity through programs offered by the Mulvane Art Museum. Washburn also hosts the Quest Academic Competition that brings high school students from across the state to Topeka to vie for the opportunity to participate in championship matches produced and televised by KTWU. The campus is also a center for cultural, sporting and educational activities. Annual events include Sunflower Music Festival and the Mulvane Mountain/Plains Art Festival as well as regular performances at the Andrew J. and Georgia Neese Gray Theatre. For more information visit Washburn University or call 785.670.1010.

 

Other Area Higher Education Institutions

School	Educational Emphasis	Enrollment Fall 201
Emporia State University Emporia, KS 50 Miles south of Topeka	Education	5,867
Baker University Baldwin, KS Topeka Campus	School of Professional & Graduate Studies: Business, Human Resources	307
Friends University Wichita, KS Topeka Campus	Non-traditional adult education program: Business, computers	245
Allen Community College 32 Miles south of Topeka	Associate Degree Program	2,898
Rasmussen College Topeka Campus	Adult education; under-graduate degree program	Not available
Highland Community College 18 miles east of Topeka	Associate Degree Program	3,200

Source: Community Profile for Topeka, Summer 2012; Highland Community College, 2012; Emporia University, 2012.

University of Kansas

Lawrence, KS
20 Miles east of Topeka

University Statistics:

Enrollment: 29,462 (19,852 undergraduates and 6,414 graduates at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses; 3,196 students at the medical center)

Faculty members: 2,529 at the main campus and the medical center

Full-time faculty with Ph.D. or equivalent in their fields: 93 percent

Fields of study: More than 200

Study Abroad opportunities: More than 130 programs in more than 70 countries

Major academic divisions: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which includes the School of the Arts and the School of Public Affairs and Administration; schools of architecture, design and planning; business; education; engineering; health professions; journalism and mass communications; law; medicine; music; nursing; pharmacy; and social welfare

Financial aid, scholarships, and grants: More than $243 million for abut 18,700 students a year; $65 million in scholarships and grants

Student Statistics:

States represented: All 50

Percentage of students from Kansas: 69.1

International students: 2,093 from 109 countries

Average age of undergraduate students: 21

Average age of graduate students: 30

Percentage of men to women: 49.2 to 50.8

Percentage of multicultural students: 14.4

Average ACT composite score for freshmen: 24.7 (highest among Kansas regents schools)

Degrees granted annually: To about 4,100 undergraduates and 2,250 masters', doctoral, and professional graduates (one-third of the bachelor's and master's degrees and two-thirds of the doctorates granted at the six Kansas regents schools)

Academic Achievement

Honors students: 1,273 in 2010-11

Rhodes Scholars: 25, more than all other Kansas schools combined

Fulbright Fellowships for students: 424

Recent recognitions:

Nationally ranked graduate programs: 58. City management / urban policy and special eduction programs: No. 1 (U.S. News & World Report, 2011)

Architecture: Top 5 in construction methods and materials (DesignIntelligence magazine)

Debate: 5 national championships

Engineering: Students win presigious AIAA aircraft design contest two years in a row

Health Professions: 4 graduate programs in top 15 (U.S. News & World Report)

Law: No. 5 "best value" U.S. law school (PreLaw magazine)

Medicine: A top 5 school in fulfilling its social mission to train primary-care doctors to work in under-represented regions

Pharmacy: Residency program best in the nation

Libraries

Library collections on the Lawrence campus contain more than 4.3 million volumes, 3.7 million microforms, 338,000 maps, and 3.4 million photographs, slides, drawings, and cartoons. Scholars from all over the world use the Kenneth Spencer Research Library's valuable collections of rare and historic material, including its University Archives and Kansas Collection. Other specialized libraries hold collections in art and architecture, dance, engineering, law, maps, and music.

At the medical center, the Archie R. Dykes Library for Health Sciences and the Clendening History of Medicine Library and Museum are major resources for health professionals.

Research

In the fiscal year 2010, external research spending from grants and contracts was nearly $225 million. 

The National Institutes of Health rank the School of Pharmacy No. 4 in research grants received, and KU is the headquarters of a major NSF polar-ice sheet and climate change research center. The KU Cancer Center is a national leader in drug research.

The National Science Foundation and the Carnegie Foundation both classify KU as a top research university, and it has been a member of the elite Association of American Universities since 1909.

Endowment

KU Endowment is the official organization for raising and managing private funds on behalf of KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the oldest foundation of its type at a U.S. public university and one of the largest.

In fiscal year 2011, 44,949 donors gave a record total $153.2 million. Of the $153.2 million, $112.5 million came in gifts and pledges, $39 million in deferred gift commitments, and $1.7 million in gifts made directly to KU.

In FY 2010, support for the university totaled $112.3 million: $37.6 million for program and educational support; $27.5 million for student support (excluding loans); $34 million for faculty support; and $13.2 million for facilities support. View 2011 report.

Cultural Resources

-- University and visiting scholars, artists, concert musicians, actors and dancers perform at the Lied Center of Kansas, a 2,000-seat performing arts hall. The adjacent 250-seat Bales Organ Recital Hall provides cathedral-like acoustics for its three-manual pipe organ, built by Wolff & Associés of Quebec.

--University Theatre programs provide active learning opportunities for students of acting, directing, and technical theatre. Committed to presenting classics of world dramatic literature as living theatre, these programs also develop new dramatic texts and forms.

Performances are staged in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre (capacity 1,180) and the William Inge Memorial Theatre (capacity 125). Two other theaters in Murphy Hall — Swarthout Recital Hall (capacity 335) and the Robert F. Baustian Theatre (capacity 125) — feature classical and contemporary music and opera.

-- The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, which features stained-glass windows and a reflecting pool, houses exhibits and the world's largest congressional archive from the career of the longtime Kansas senator. Lectures series, seminars and speeches on current political and cultural issues are presented in its meeting spaces and halls.

-- The Spencer Museum of Art, long recognized as one of the finest university art museums in the nation, houses an internationally known collection numbering nearly 36,000 artworks and artifacts in all media. Significant holdings include East Asian art; medieval art; European and American paintings, sculpture and prints; photography; Japanese Edo-period painting and prints; textiles and quilts; 20th-century Chinese painting; and an ethnographic collection of about 10,000 Native American, African, Latin American, and Australian works.

-- About 50,000 people a year visit the Natural History Museum. Fossil exhibits of extinct mammals, dinosaurs, reptiles, and fishes are especially popular. The museum's centerpiece is a panorama of North American plants and animals first prepared by renowned zoologist L.L. Dyche for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

What the Experts Say

A “Best in the West” school: notable academic programs in communications, education, engineering, journalism, music, nursing, premedical sciences, and the social sciences
A “Best Value” school, one of 50 ranked public universities – 2011 Princeton Review

“With solid academics, outstanding extracurricular programs, winning athletics and a stellar social scene, the University of Kansas has a bounty of opportunities for motivated Jayhawks. … KU's academic value is hard to beat.” – 2011 Fiske Guide to Colleges

Lawrence is a “top 10 college town” praised for its vibrant downtown, youthful attitude and crimson-capped campus – Parents & Colleges 2011

Kansas State University

Manhattan, Kansas
50 miles west of Topeka

Kansas State University is recognized by the Princeton Review as one of America's best colleges, and U.S. News & World Report lists the university among the top 75 public universities in the U.S. Kansas State University is implementing an aggressive plan to become a top 50 public research university by 2025.

QUICK FACTS

Colleges: agriculture; architecture, planning and design; arts and sciences; business administration; education; engineering; human ecology; technology and aviation; and veterinary medicine.

Graduate study: The Graduate School offers 65 masters degrees, 45 doctoral degrees and 22 graduate certificates in multiple disciplines across campus.

Extension: Kansas State University Research and Extension conducts practical research and delivers those results through offices in all 105 Kansas counties to improve the lives of Kansans.

Students: More than 23,800 from all 50 states and more than 90 countries.

Degrees: 250+ undergraduate majors and options are available.

Organizations: More than 475 student organizations and more than 20 club sports.

Sports: A total of 16 men's and women's teams compete in the Big 12 Conference.

Financial aid: More than $200 million in scholarships, grants, loans and work study is distributed each year.

Locations: The main campus is located in Manhattan, Kansas. The “Little Apple” is a classic college town with 52,000 residents. The university also has campuses in Salina and Olathe.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Kansas State University is a national leader among public universities in the total number of Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall prestigious scholarship winners. The university is home to more national CASE/Carnegie Professors of the Year than any other public research university in America.

• Student scholars
• Accomplishments
• Rankings and awards
• Famous alumni

HISTORY

K-State got its start in 1858 when Bluemont Central College was founded and 53 students enrolled. Five years later K-State became the first fully operational land-grant college in America.

• K-State timeline
• Traditions
• K-State presidents and first ladies
• About Anderson Hall