Basic information and contact details for Michigan State University
Michigan State University (MSU) was created in 1855 and was the first of America’s “land-grant” universities -- institutions handed land to create an environment “where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts...in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life.”
Today, MSU is one of the largest institutions in the US in terms of enrolment, with over 50,000 students, and is sprawled across a 5,200-acre campus in East Lansing. Its alumni reach is over 540,000 strong, spread all over the world.
MSU is a multi-disciplinary research institution and this is reflected in its diverse range of accolades. Alfred D. Hershey, who took his undergraduate and doctoral degrees at MSU, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1969, while one of the world’s greatest ever basketball players Earvin “Magic” Johnson was a keen student at the university before being drafted by the NBA. MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences has a particularly rich history, cultivating eight Pulitzer Prize winners. Richard Ford, another Pulitzer Prize winner for his novel Independence Day, also studied at MSU.
MSU students are dubbed ‘Spartans’ when they enter the institution and the university’s large sports programme, which has 25 varsity squads.
Rankings
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World University Rankings 2025
Breakdown via year: Overall
Ranking positions 2016 to 2025
2025
122nd
2024
=116th
2023
106th
2022
=93rd
2021
105th
2020
84th
2019
=93rd
2018
=83rd
2017
101st
2016
=99th
Precise ranks and overall scores are shown for the institutions toward the top of a ranking; for institutions with banded ranks, please see the relevant ranking tables for an indication of their scores.
Impact Rankings
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Impact Rankings 2024
Breakdown via year: Overall
Impact Ranking positions 2021 to 2024
2024
=25th
2023
=26th
2022
=33rd
2021
101-200th
Precise ranks and overall scores are shown for the institutions toward the top of a ranking; for institutions with banded ranks, please see the relevant ranking tables for an indication of their scores.
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