| Arkansas State University | |
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The seal of Arkansas State university |
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| Motto | Powering Minds |
| Established | 1909 |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | $30.9 million[1] |
| Chancellor | Robert L. Potts |
| President | Charles Welch |
| Academic staff | 469[2] |
| Admin. staff | 965[2] |
| Students | 13,438 [3](17,795 system wide) |
| Undergraduates | 10,024 [4](16,311 system-wide) |
| Postgraduates | 2,132[5] |
| Doctoral students | 142[2] |
| Location | Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Scarlet and Black |
| Athletics | 16 teams |
| Nickname | Red Wolves |
| Mascot | Howl |
| Affiliations | Sun Belt Conference |
| Website | astate.edu/ |
Arkansas State University (also known as ASU, ASTATE or "stAte") is a public university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the state's second largest college system and third largest university by enrollment. It is located atop 800 acres (3.2 km2) on Crowley's Ridge at Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA. The university marked its centennial year in 2009.
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For other Arkansas State University campuses, see Arkansas State University System.
ASU was founded as the First District Agricultural School in Jonesboro in 1909 by the Arkansas Legislature as a regional agricultural training school. Robert W. Glover, a Missionary Baptist pastor who served in both houses of the Arkansas Legislature from Sheridan (1905–1912), introduced in 1909 the resolution calling for the establishment of four state agricultural colleges, including the future ASU.[6]
In 1918, ASU began offering a two-year college program. In 1925, it became First District Agricultural and Mechanical College. A four-year degree program was begun in 1930. A & M College became Arkansas State College in 1933. In 1967, the Arkansas Legislature elevated the college to university status and changed the name to Arkansas State University.
Master's degree graduate programs were initiated in 1955, and ASU began offering its first doctoral degree, in educational leadership, in the fall of 1992. A second doctoral program, in environmental science, was begun in the fall of 1997, and the doctoral program in heritage studies began in the fall of 2001. The doctoral program in the biomedical sciences kicked off in fall 2006.
Today, the institution has more than 55,000 alumni. Programs at the specialist's, master's, bachelor's and associate's degree levels are available through the various colleges: Agriculture, Business, Communications, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Nursing and Health Professions, Sciences and Mathematics, and University College.
The ASU system includes campuses in Jonesboro (Craighead County), which offers degree programs through the doctoral level; Beebe (White County), Mountain Home (Baxter County), and Newport (Jackson County), where associate degree programs are offered; and at Heber Springs, Marked Tree, and Searcy. Arkansas State University-Beebe became part of the ASU system in 1955. It associated with White River Vo-Tech at Newport in 1992; that campus has attained stand-alone status and is now Arkansas State University-Newport. The Mountain Home campus officially became ASU-Mountain Home on July 1, 1995. Delta Technical Institute at Marked Tree merged with ASU and became Arkansas State University Technical Center on July 1, 2001. A new campus is being built for ASU-Heber Springs, which operates as a sister campus of ASU-Beebe. Foothills Technical Institute at Searcy was merged with ASU-Beebe on July 1, 2003, and is now ASU-Searcy, a technical institute of ASU-Beebe.
ASU offers bachelor's degree programs, master's degree programs and upper level courses through ASU degree centers at ASU-Beebe, ASU-Mountain Home, and three other cities -- Blytheville, Forrest City, and West Memphis -- where partnership agreements have been established in cooperation with the local community colleges. ASU also operates an instructional site at nearby Paragould in Greene County.
ASU has grown rapidly over the past 20 years. Current enrollment for the Jonesboro campus stands at about 12,000, and the system has an enrollment of greater than 17,000.
ASU-Jonesboro's College of Communications features two student-led media outlets. The Herald, a twice-weekly student newspaper, was founded in 1921 and has a circulation of 5,000. ASU-TV, a program under the Department of Radio-Television, gives students hands-on experience in the field of television broadcasting.
ASU participates as a member of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. The athletic teams, previously known as the Indians, are now known as the Red Wolves.
Well-known alumni of Arkansas State University include:
Approximately 15% of ASU's students are members of one of the more than 25 Greek organizations located on the campus. Most other student organizations, including the Student Government Association, the Student Activities Board, and the Student Orientation Staff, are led by and populated by mainly Greek students.
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