Kansas's premier public research university with strong engineering, business, and athletic traditions.
Wichita State comprises nine colleges including Engineering, Business (W. Frank Barton School), Health Professions, Fine Arts, Education, and the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The university holds an R2 research classification and offers more than 60 undergraduate programs across nine colleges, with over 200 areas of study. Graduate programs include more than 50 master's degrees, a specialist degree in education, and 13 doctoral programs. The university libraries hold over 2 million volumes, 350+ electronic databases, and 70,000+ journal subscriptions.
The main campus spans 330 acres in northeast Wichita at 1845 North Fairmount. Recent developments include the Innovation Campus with partnerships from major companies like NetApp and Airbus, featuring Shocker Hall (784-bed residence facility), Woolsey Hall for the business school, and mixed-use developments. Student housing includes Shocker Hall, The Suites, and The Flats. The university has 26 fraternities and sororities. Undergraduate demographics show 57% White, 17% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and 6% Black students; 35% are low-income.
WSU competes in NCAA Division I as the Shockers, primarily in The American Conference (women's bowling in Conference USA). The men's basketball team has appeared in the NCAA tournament 16 times since 1954, reaching the Final Four in 1965 and 2013. The baseball team won the national championship in 1989 and has been the highest-winning college baseball team for 31 years. The bowling teams have won 23 combined USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships. WSU discontinued football after 1986 but has produced notable NFL players including Bill Parcells.
WSU is home to the original Pizza Hut building, now located on the Innovation Campus. Notable alumni include Pizza Hut founders Dan and Frank Carney, Garmin founder Gary Burrell, and NBA players Fred VanVleet, Landry Shamet, and Austin Reaves. The university was the first Division I-A school to hire a Black head coach in college football (Willie Jeffries, 1979). In October 2022, WSU announced a $300 million shared Wichita Biomedical Campus with the University of Kansas, with construction beginning in 2024.