Wichita State University

Wichita State University is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States, governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The idea behind it began in 1886, when Joseph Homer Parker founded a private Congregational preparatory school that never opened; the project was renamed Fairmount College in 1887, and Fairmount College opened collegiate classes in 1895. A second referendum passed in 1926 and it became the Municipal University of Wichita, the first municipal university west of the Mississippi, and on 1 July 1964 it entered the state system of higher education as Wichita State University. It offers more than 60 undergraduate programs across nine colleges, enrolled 18,003 students on its main campus in fall 2026, and holds an R2 research classification.