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About MU

The School of Social Work is located on the Columbia campus of the University of Missouri. The first public university west of the Mississippi River, the University of Missouri was founded in 1839 as a land-grant university. It is the state's largest public research university.

Considered one of the nation's top-tier institutions, MU is one of only 34 public U.S. universities, and the only public institution in Missouri, to be selected for membership in the Association of American Universities and designated "Doctoral/Research Extensive" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. AAU members are the most distinguished group of research universities in the nation.

MU is highly ranked in quality and value by U.S. News & World Report, The Fiske Guide to Colleges, Barron's Best Buys in College Education, and in numerous other college guides.

MU ranks in the first tier of America's fastest-growing research universities. According to the National Science Foundation, new federal grant funding at MU grew by nearly 57 percent over a four-year period, more than any other public university in the Association of American Universities. The average growth rate among those universities was just under 25 percent.

MU's libraries, with more than 3 million volumes, are part of the largest public research collection in Missouri.

Emerging as a national leader in gerontology, MU draws on expertise in nursing, social work, physical therapy and MU's Eldercare Center. Tiger Place, the "aging in place" residential facility model for the future, will be the University's newest asset.

MU's Graduate School is recognized nationally for its efforts to increase the number of underrepresented minorities pursuing graduate education. The school's most recent award is the Peterson's/Council of Graduate Schools Award for Innovation in Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Community.

MU is an academic leader in the Big 12 Conference. The 2006 freshman class boasts an ACT average of 25.3, compared with the national average of 20.9 and the state average of 21.5. Nearly one-third come from the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

In Fall of 2006, MU welcomed the largest enrollment in its history: 28,253 students from every county in Missouri, every state in the nation and 101 countries.

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