Kansas's third-oldest public university, transforming lives since 1863 through hands-on learning and adaptive leadership.
Emporia State offers degrees through seven schools, one college, and one institute: School of Business and Technology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Library and Information Management, School of Science and Mathematics, School of Visual and Performing Arts, School of Applied Health Sciences, The Teachers College, and the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies. The university provides more than 80 courses of study and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The School of Library and Information Management, founded in 1902, is the oldest school of library and information studies in the western United States and offers ESU's only PhD in Library and Information Management. The Teachers College is recognized as an exemplary model teacher education program.
The 234-acre main campus in Emporia features academic buildings including Beach Music Hall (1926), Bruekelman Science Hall, Cram Science Hall, and facilities housing museums and a planetarium. ESU also operates a satellite campus in Overland Park (Kansas City) offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, primarily online. Student life includes housing, dining services, fraternity and sorority organizations, and the student newspaper (ESU Bulletin). The university competes in NCAA Division II athletics as the Hornets, with teams in basketball, football, baseball, and softball.
Emporia State welcomes first-year, transfer, graduate, and international students. The university emphasizes personal attention through smaller class sizes and one-on-one admissions counseling. Undergraduate and graduate admissions requirements are available on the website. The university offers academic, transfer, out-of-state, international, and departmental scholarships to eligible students. A 'Jump Start/Concurrent Enrollment' program serves high school students in nearby counties, and articulation agreements with 19 Kansas community colleges facilitate seamless transfer in nursing, education, criminology, and sciences.
Emporia State reports a 98% career outcomes rate (4-year average) and is the only Kansas public institution named a College of Distinction. The university has established articulation agreements with 19 Kansas community colleges and a partnership with Pittsburg State University for course sharing. An articulation agreement allows ESU undergraduates to shorten time to complete bachelor's and law degrees by taking law classes at Washburn University's Law School during their senior year. Career services and internship opportunities connect students with future employment through hands-on experiences.