About Wichita State

College of Applied Studies

• Produces highly qualified educators, athletic trainers, exercise scientists and sport-management professionals.
• Students gain applied-learning experiences in the state’s largest school district, USD 259, with major- and minor league organizations across the country — and with companies such as Walt Disney World.
• The Teacher Apprentice Program (TAP) is an online program that has enabled more than 450 paraprofessionals to enter the teaching profession to date — helping to address the nationwide teacher shortage.

College of Engineering

• WSU was one of the first educational institutions in the nation to offer a degree in aerospace engineering—way back in 1928.
• Students have access to the largest engineering co-op and internship program in the state, gaining real-world experience—and careers—with NASA, NetApp, Spirit AeroSystems, Toyota, Airbus, GE Aviation and others.
• The new, $32 million John Bardo Center on WSU’s Innovation Campus provides access to additional applied-learning opportunities and advanced technology — and a place for students, professors and industry professionals to collaborate.

College of Fine Arts

• Developed new, innovative programming to increase enrollment — such as the Bachelor of Applied Arts in Media Arts — for careers in animation, audio production, filmmaking or game design.
• Students train with legends, such as opera superstars Sam Ramey and Alan Held.
• Around 85 percent of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra is comprised of WSU students, faculty and staff.

College of Health Professions

• Features the only physician assistant program in the state and the only bachelor of dental hygiene program at a Kansas Regents university.
• Offers Kansas’ only accelerated nursing program from a state university, turning qualified students into qualified nurses in less than 18 months.
• Students gain applied-learning experience at more than 1,100 sites in Kansas and beyond — from large hospitals and private practices to local schools and neighborhood clinics.

Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College

• Home to the state’s only Honors Baccalaureate degree.
• Combines smaller, seminar-style classes; exclusive financial support for internships and study abroad; specialized advising and mentoring; and independent and collaborative research opportunities.
• Currently expanding its student success area in Shocker Hall, to better serve the needs of its rapidly growing number of Shocker Honors students.

Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

• The oldest and largest college at WSU — offering the widest range of degree options.
• Fairmount College students have gained applied-learning experience through co-ops and internships with diverse organizations ranging from broadcast network affiliates and the YMCA to state-and-local government and nonprofits.
• WSU’s biological field station on the Ninnescah river features 330 acres of native prairie, wetlands and woodland.

Barton School of Business

• Offers the widest selection of business degrees in Kansas, including the state’s first entrepreneurship major.
• Holds dual accreditation, through AACSB International, in business and accounting—placing it among the most distinguished business schools worldwide.
• Students gain applied-learning experience locally, nationally and internationally, with employers ranging from Microsoft and Koch Industries to the Mayo Clinic and the White House.

Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation

• Offers one of the only face-to-face programs of its type in the United States.
• The Master of Innovation Design degree merges arts, science and technology curricula to create opportunities for student-faculty collaboration across WSU’s colleges. This individualized program develops students’ abilities to design creative solutions, communicate effectively, practice entrepreneurship and develop prototypes.
• The Undergraduate Leadership Certificate builds advanced analytical skills to amplify any major.

Strong faculty

The university has nearly 600 full-time faculty, with 86 percent having earned the highest degree in their field. Academic programs also draw on the professional expertise of adjuncts and guest lecturers from Wichita-based businesses and organizations of all kinds.

Diverse campus

WSU is the most racially and ethnically diverse campus in Kansas. Of approximately 15,000 students, 78 percent are from Kansas, and the remainder are from every state in the U.S. and 111 countries.

First-gen focus

The university was named a 2019 Social Mobility Innovator in a ranking of 1,400 U.S. colleges, based on its success in recruiting and retaining low-income students. Approximately 45 percent of all degree-seeking undergraduates at Wichita State last fall came from families in which neither parent completed a four-year college degree.