Kent State University
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Kent State University (also known as Kent State or KSU) is an institution of higher learning located in Kent, Ohio, United States, which is about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland, 12 miles east of Akron, and 30 miles west of Youngstown. With 34,491 students across eight campuses, it is the third largest university in Ohio after Ohio State University (57,748) and the University of Cincinnati (35,364). Regional campuses include Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas.

Kent State has colleges of Arts and Sciences, Architecture and Environmental Design, Business Administration, Communication and Information, Education, Health, and Human Services, Fine and Professional Arts, and Nursing, along with a School of Technology. The university also has interdisciplinary programs in Biomedical Sciences, Financial Engineering, and Information Architecture and Knowledge Management.

Kent State University is the only institution in the state of Ohio to offer a degree in Library and Information Science at this time. The Financial Engineering program offered from Kent State University is ranked thirteenth in the country. The university's Liquid Crystal Institute has an international reputation for research in optics and chemical physics. Other notable programs include the Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising and the Center for the Study of World Music.

The Visual Communication Design Program enjoys a standing as one of the most professional respected in the United States. In the Fall of 2001, Visual Communication Design, after 30+ years, a division within the School of Art, was separated to become the School of Visual Communication Design. Joining with the Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, Communication Studies and Library and Information Sciences in a new College of Communication and Information, this unique combination of Communication disciplines housed together in one College is the first of its kind in the United States.

Additionally, the School of Technology offers three degrees in the field of Aeronautics. Students in this school can pursue baccalaureate degrees in Flight Technology, Aviation Management and Aeronautical Engineering. The Flight Technology specialization can lead to a career as an airline pilot, while those focusing in Aviation Management typically begin careers on the business side of the aviation industry. The Aeronautical Engineering program is the only mechanical engineering program offered at Kent State.

The College of Architecture offers one of the most demanding undergraduate programs in the country, with many of its graduates continuing at such well regarded graduate schools such as Harvard GSD, Yale school of architecture, MIT, UCLA, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Kent State's sports teams are called the Golden Flashes. They compete in the NCAA's Division I-A, and the Mid-American Conference. The school's most prominent rivalry is with the University of Akron, located just 10 miles away; the two schools' football teams have played for the Wagon Wheel each year since 1972. The University of Akron has dominated this series for much of the last decade, winning eight of the last ten meetings from 1996-2005, and currently holds a 16-9-1 edge. Kent and Akron's men's basketball rivalry has always been close, with Kent State holding a narrow edge in the overall series.

In 1910, the Kent State Normal School was established as a college for training public school teachers as part of the Lowery Bill which also created sister school Bowling Green State Normal School. The new school was constructed on land donated by William S. Kent (grandson of Marvin Kent, the namesake for the city of Kent) in what was then the eastern edge of Kent. The first president was John Edward McGilvrey, who served from 1912 to 1926. The school was later named Kent State Normal College, then Kent State College (after it was authorized to issue Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees), and finally Kent State University after it received university status in 1935. The bill granting Kent State university status was signed by Governor Martin L. Davey, a native of Kent, and created graduate degree program and the College of Business Administration. In 1965, Chemistry professor Glenn H. Brown established the Liquid Crystal Institute, which has become a world leader in the development of liquid crystals. In 1994, Kent State earned status as a Research University II from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In 2000, the foundation changed its classification system and Kent State was classified as a Doctrinal/Research University-Extensive, one of just 90 public research schools in the country in this classification.

The university is best known outside Ohio for a single event, the Kent State shootings.

Kent State University's eight-campus network, one of the largest regional systems in the country, serves both the development of a true living/learning approach at the Kent Campus and regional needs on seven other campuses throughout Northeast Ohio. The Kent Campus provides the resources and facilities of a large, diverse university, while the Regional Campuses - Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas - offer the friendly, casual atmosphere of small liberal arts colleges.

Kent State University has a rich history. The tragic events of May 4, 1970, had a profound impact on the university, the nation and the world. The university community welcomes visitors to the May 4 Site and Memorial on the Kent Campus to inquire, learn and reflect.
Today, Kent State has become an engine for economic, cultural and workforce development in the region and beyond as one of the premiere Ohio colleges. Kent State is ranked among the nation's 77 public research universities demonstrating high-research activity by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Join the more than 170,000 alumni worldwide, who can proudly sing along with the Kent State University fight song or alma mater.