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Fun Facts about Michigan State

Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research, and outreach for 150 years. It is known worldwide as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. It offers more than 200 programs of study, many of them nationally ranked, that attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.

Campus Facts

  • Founded: 1855
  • Location: East Lansing, Michigan
  • Size: 5,200 acres
  • Buildings: 660 buildings, including 85 with instructional space
  • Calendar: semester
  • Colors: green and white
  • Nickname: Spartans
  • Mascot: Sparty
  • Conference: Big Ten
  • Living alumni: 389,500 worldwide

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Freshmen Facts (2005)

  • Total applications received: 21,844
  • Percent who applied online: 62 percent
  • Total freshmen enrollment: 7,314
  • Number of female students: 4,185
  • Number of male students: 3,129
  • Number entering the Honors College: 477
  • Number entering the Academic Scholars program: 196
  • Number of College Achievement Admissions Program (CAAP) participants -
  • most of whom are first generation college students: 624
  • Most popular female first names: Jessica, Sarah, Ashley, Amanda, Jennifer, Lauren, and Megan
  • Most popular male first names: Michael, Matthew, Andrew, David, Daniel, Ryan, and Christopher
  • Most popular last names: Smith, Johnson, Miller, Brown, Lee, Kim, and Jones
  • Top home states: Michigan, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Texas, Maryland, California, and Florida
  • Top home countries: United States, Korea, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Turkey, Canada, and Saudi Arabia
  • Most popular majors: no preference, Lyman Briggs School, James Madison College, premedicine, general management, psychology, marketing, prenursing, general business administration-prelaw, journalism, education, and engineering-no preference

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Points of Pride

  • MSU is the only university in the country with three on-campus medical schools, graduating allopathic (M.D.) and osteopathic (D.O.) physicians, and veterinarians.
  • MSU researchers developed the platinum-based compounds Cisplatin and Carboplatin, which have saved tens of thousands of lives in the treatment of certain cancers.
  • Historic discoveries at MSU include the research that led to the development of hybrid corn and the process still used for the homogenization of milk.
  • MSU consistently ranks as one of the three largest undergraduate study abroad programs in the nation.
  • MSU ranks in the top five universities for producing Peace Corps volunteers since the programs establishment in 1961.
  • MSU’s student operated college radio station, WDBM (88.9-FM), the Impact, was named college radio station of the year in 2004, 2005, and 2006 - and was the first college radio station to broadcast in high definition.
  • View more of MSU’s Points of Pride

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Notable Alumni

  • Spencer Abraham, U.S. secretary of energy
  • Amy Astley, editor-in-chief of Teen VOGUE magazine
  • Adnan Badran, former prime minister of Jordan
  • James Blanchard, former governor of Michigan
  • Eli Broad, renowned Fortune 500 business leader and founder of the Broad Foundation
  • Julie Aigner-Clark, founder of Baby Einstein
  • John Engler, former governor of Michigan
  • Richard Ford, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Independence Day
  • Anthony Heald, actor featured in “Silence of the Lambs,” “The Pelican Brief,” and most recently on Fox’s drama “Boston Public” playing the role of Assistant Principal, Scott Guber
  • Wanda Herndon, senior vice president for worldwide public affairs for Starbucks Coffee
  • Donna Hrinak, U.S. ambassador to Brazil
  • Wallace Jefferson, the first African American appointed chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court
  • Kay Koplovitz, founder of the USA Network
  • Joanne Maguire, vice president and deputy of Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Co., which built the Hubble Telescope
  • R. Drayton McLane Jr., owner of the Houston Astros baseball team
  • Michael Olman, winner of two prime-time Emmys for the Fox drama “24” and the Discovery Channel’s “Dinosaur Planet”
  • Purachai Piumsombun, former deputy prime minister of Thailand and former Minister of Justice and Minister of Interior
  • Debbie Stabenow, United States Senator
  • James R. Von Her III, founder, chairman, and CEO of Zyvex Corp., the world’s first molecular nanotechnology company
  • John Walters, head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who is known as the “U.S. drug czar”

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Distinguished Visitors

  • Maya Angelou, renowned poet and author
  • Tucker Carlson, host of MSNBC’s “The Situation with Tucker Carlson”
  • Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States
  • Bill Clinton, President of the United States
  • Howard Dean, former presidential candidate and governor of Vermont
  • Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Boston Globe
  • Karen Hughes, former top White House aide and advisor to President George Bush
  • Garrison Keillor, host of public radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion”
  • Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senator
  • Jack Kemp, former U.S. Congressman and Cabinet Member, and vice presidential nominee
  • Spike Lee, filmmaker
  • Julianne Malveaux, economist and media commentator
  • Dee Dee Myers, White House press secretary during the Clinton administration
  • George Mitchell, former U.S. Senate majority leader
  • Michael Moore, Academy Award winning filmmaker
  • Ralph Nader, former presidential candidate
  • Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State
  • Salman Rushdie, author
  • Twyla Tharp, choreographer
  • Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
  • Bob Simon, CBS News correspondent
  • Elias Zerhouni, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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Amazing Entertainment

 

Musical and comedic performers visiting campus

  • Barenaked Ladies
  • Wayne Brady
  • Dave Brubeck
  • Dave Chappelle
  • David Copperfield
  • Ani DeFranco
  • Gavin DeGraw
  • Bob Dylan
  • Rascal Flatts
  • Emmylou Harris
  • Incubus
  • Toby Keith
  • B.B. King
  • Alison Krauss and Union Station
  • Los Lobos
  • Ludacris
  • Wynton Marsalis
  • John Mayer
  • Nickelback
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Ravi Shankar
  • Black Eyed Peas
  • Jethro Tull
  • Shania Twain
  • Jethro Tull
  • Keith Urban
  • Kanye West

Broadway and dance performances visiting campus

  • Ballet Folklorico
  • “Chicago”
  • “Grease”
  • “Hair Spray”
  • “Little Shop of Horrors”
  • Martha Graham Dance Company
  • Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance”
  • “Movin’ Out”
  • STOMP
  • “The Lion King”
  • “The Producers”

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Michigan State University - Advancing Knowledge Transforming Lives