In All Things...Excellence

In 1886, the mere 4,000 citizens of Frankfort, Kentucky donated $1,500 and the land to win the residency of a new college, beating our several other cities vying for the ownership. The doors of the first building, Recitation Hall (now Jackson Hall), of the State Normal School for Colored Persons were open on October 11, 1887 to welcome the three teachers, 55 students, and the school's first president, John H. Jackson. In 1890, the institution became a land grant college, and the departments of home economics, agriculture, and mechanics were added to the school's curriculum. In the spring of the same year, five students became the first graduating class and were the foundation of a long, proud tradition of higher education at Kentucky State University.

The twentieth century ushered in evolution for the small school once intended to train black students as teachers for black schools. In 1902, the name was changed to Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Persons. The name was changed again in 1926 to Kentucky State College for Colored Persons. In 1938, the school was named the Kentucky State College for Negroes. The term “for Negroes” was dropped in 1952. Kentucky State College became a university in 1972, and, in 1973, the first graduate students enrolled in its School of Public Affairs.

Today, Kentucky State University's 882-acre campus has more than 43 structures, including a 204-acre agricultural research farm and a 306-acre environmental education center. Also, courses are taught each academic year in off-campus classes throughout Franklin County and the surrounding six county service area. With an enrollment of nearly 1800 students and more than 100 full-time instructional faculty members, the University's student-faculty ratio is the lowest among public institutions of higher learning in Kentucky.

Students have the opportunity to receive an associate (two-year) degree in two disciplines, a baccalaureate (four-year) degree in 38 majors, several of which have optional specializations, a master's degree in seven disciplines, and a doctoral degree in nursing practice. Students may also elect to prepare for professional schools through the University's arrangements with the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, the University of Maryland at College Park, Vanderbilt University, Meharry Medical College, Florida A&M University, Northern Kentucky University, Auburn University, Tuskegee University, Southern College of Optometry (Memphis), the University of Houston, and the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

KSU's location in Frankfort, Kentucky's capital city, permits the University to offer unique and outstanding state government student internships. Kentucky State University's educational mission, though centered on degree programs that emphasize liberal studies, also places considerable importance on the University's public service commitments. State government training capabilities are under the auspices of the Governmental Services Center at Kentucky State University. Many state government employees are drawn annually to the University's campus to attend workshops and seminars.

Kentucky State University is the most diverse among the state's public universities having evolved into a liberal studies institution, serving students without regard to their race, age, sex, national origin, or economic status. The University, now well into its second century of educational service to Kentucky and the nation, continuously seeks to become a top educational entity and to rise to excellence as a liberal arts institution that is second to none.

Kentucky State University consists of five major academic units that are the colleges of: Agriculture, Communities, and the Environment; Humanities and Social Sciences; Business and Computational Sciences; Public Service and Leadership Studies, and Natural, Applied and Health Sciences. The College of Agriculture, Communities, and the Environment contains three

1 The University