The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a public research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Established in 1963, it is the newest of the four universities in the University of Missouri System. Located on the former grounds of Bellerive Country Club, the university's campus stretches into the municipalities of Bellerive, Bel-Nor and Normandy. Additional facilities are located at the former site of Marillac College and at Grand Center, both in St. Louis city.
Bachelor's, Master's, and doctoral programs are offered through the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business Administration, the College of Education, the College of Nursing, the School of Social Work, and the College of Optometry. The business school is AACSB-accredited and is the only public university in the St. Louis area to also be AACSB-accredited in accounting. Preprofessional, a joint engineering program with Washington University in St. Louis, and evening programs are also offered. UMSL is home of an optometry school, providing its students with a doctorate (OD). The Pierre Laclede Honors College is UMSL's honors program. UMSL is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
The university contains two libraries: The Thomas Jefferson Library which is the main library of the university and the St. Louis Mercantile Library which was founded in 1846 and is the oldest library west of the Mississippi River. The campus contains two stops on MetroLink, St. Louis' regional light rail system. A student center, academic buildings, parking structures, a performing arts center, and residential housing have been constructed over the past ten years as part of campus improvement programs. The university has a dual-enrollment agreement with Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. KWMU (90.7 FM), which is the flagship National Public Radio station in the St. Louis area and known on-air as St. Louis Public Radio, is owned by and licensed to UMSL.
UMSL has 10,431 students attending classes on-campus, compared to 6,010 students taking classes off-campus, which is mostly students dual-enrolled at area high schools. The university has the equivalent of 9,488 full-time students. UMSL has historically been a commuter school for the St. Louis, with only about 1200 students living on-campus.
History
The impetus for a college campus in its current location began in 1957 when members of the Bellerive Country Club put their 53-year-old club house and grounds on the market for $1.3 million as they planned to move to larger quarters in Town and Country, Missouri. At the same time members of Normandy, Missouri School District began debating the need of creating an affordable junior college to offer an alternative to the much more expensive privately owned Saint Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis. Country Club members approached the Board and the asking price was dropped to $600,000. A bond issue on September 30, 1958, received the necessary two-thirds majority and the golf club was turned over to Normandy on May 31, 1960. A group of board members and citizens popularly referred to as "The Committee of Twenty-eight" began the process to set up the junior college. The group met with Elmer Ellis, president of the University of Missouri.
At the time, MU was responsible for accrediting junior colleges. Ellis suggested that the University of Missouri supervise the educational program at the school. The terms required that 100 students attend the school. 140 students applied on the first day. The Clubhouse was renovated with 15 classrooms, two laboratories, a large lecture room, a library and a cafeteria. The "Normandy Residence Center under the auspices of the University of Missouri" opened in September 1960. Enrollment increased to 300 in 1961 and 550 in 1962.
Interest in a four-year school immediately arose. In 1963, the original MU campuses in Columbia and Rolla were merged with the privately owned University of Kansas City to form the present day University of Missouri System. The newly formed system immediately won permission to upgrade the Normandy center to a full-fledged four-year institution. The transfer from the Normandy school district to the University of Missouri System was delayed when the Missouri Supreme Court in 4–3 decision ruled that the school could not transfer the property without a formal open bid process. The Missouri General Assembly enacted legislation signed by Governor John Dalton on October 13, 1963, enabling the transfer and the university bought the property for $60,000 from unallocated funds at the university's disposal.