Michigan State University

Michigan State University (MSU) is a public research university located in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. MSU was founded in 1855 and became the nation's first land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1862, serving as a model for future land-grant universities.

MSU pioneered the studies of packaging, hospitality business, supply chain management, and telecommunication. U.S. News & World Report ranks several MSU graduate programs in the nation's top 10, including industrial and organizational psychology, osteopathic medicine, and veterinary medicine, and identifies its graduate programs in elementary education, secondary education, and nuclear physics as the best in the country. MSU has been labeled one of the "Public Ivies," a publicly funded university considered as providing a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League.

Following the introduction of the Morrill Act, the college became coeducational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture. Today, MSU is the seventh-largest university in the United States (in terms of enrollment), with over 49,000 students and 2,950 faculty members. There are approximately 532,000 living MSU alumni worldwide.

MSU's Division I sports teams are called the Spartans, which compete in the Big Ten Conference. MSU's football team won the Rose Bowl in 1954, 1956, 1988 and 2014 and six national championships. Its men's basketball team won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000 and is currently enjoying a streak of six Final Four appearances over the last 13 seasons. Its men's ice hockey won national titles in 1966, 1986 and 2007. Historically, cross country is Michigan State's most successful sport