Things You May Want to Know About Murray State University
Programs are offered through the Arthur J. Bauernfeind Colleges of Business, College of Education and Human Services, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering, and Technology, Hutson School of Agriculture, School of Nursing and Health Professions, and Center for Adult and Regional Education.
Its 261-acre campus is located in southwestern Kentucky in the Jackson Purchase Region.
What Courses Should I Take, and What’s the Normal Class Size Like?
There are about 9500 students (1500 or so grad students, 400 international students) – of which almost two-thirds are female.
There is one faculty member for every fifteen and a half students (that half student is hard to teach!) Three-quarters of those faculty have PhDs or the equivalent highest degree in their field. They teach in 3 doctoral, 3 specialists, 37 masters’, 60 bachelor’s, and 6 associate degree programs, as well as in 11 graduate and 6 undergraduate certificate programs. The most popular majors are biology, nursing, business administration, occupational safety and health, agricultural science, and animal health technology.
- The student body is 95% female and 37.06% male.
- Students are residents of 48 states and 401 international students from 45 countries.
- Murray State’s six-year graduation rate is 54.5%.
What’s a Typical Dining Day Like on Campus?
You can start your day with a bagel from Einstein’s in the Waterfield Library along with your caffeine fix to fuel forward or perhaps a juice to recover from last night. After a productive morning studying in the library, it’s time to get some lunch before class. You can never go wrong with tacos from Tres Habaneros in the T’Room.
For a mid-afternoon pick-you-up visit Starbucks in the Curris Center. It’s hard to decide when it comes to dinner whether it’s back to the T’Room for a Steak n’Shake or take advantage of one of the many flexible meal plans available at Winslow Dining Hall by Residential College Circle. Either way, grab a sub to go from Subconnection in the T’room for that midnight snack.
Many of these locations only open at certain times during the summer, so call ahead:
How Many Research Centers Are There?
Six!
MARC, the Mapping Applications Resource Center, can help you with all your mapping graphics needs. Check out the range of the Office of Scholarly and Creative Activity interests on poster displays at the Capitol. Among other things, the OSCA offers research and travel grants. Perhaps you have seen the documentaries where they pull all the plastic out of seabirds’ stomachs. You may want to study at the Watershed Studies Institute. Or you may be more interested in the Hancock Biological Station or the Breathitt Veterinary Center with a focus on pathology, microbiology, molecular diagnostics, toxicology, serology, and virology. The Chemical Service Laboratory provides access to: X-Ray fluorescence analysis, U-V and atomic absorption spectrophotometry, infrared, ion, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Hydra II AF mercury analysis, etc.
What Are Some Things to Do on Campus?
There are over one hundred student organizations, not counting Greek life, religious groups, or departmental honor societies.
These include a photo, amateur radio, cinema classics, and bird clubs, as well as Collegiate 4H, the Lions, Best Buddies, the Murray State News, and MESS (Murray environmental student society). Let’s say you’re interested in law. You may want to consider the Mock Trial Team, SDU (speech and debate), the Judicial Board, SGA (student government), the Police or Pre-Law Society, Collegiate Democrats of Republicans, or Amnesty International. Or let’s say you’re interested in the international scene. You might join Model UN, the International Student Organization, the Indian Student Association, the Japanese Club, GAME (gaming, Manga, anime enthusiasts), or UNICEF.
If you are athletic, you can choose between running, rowing, fencing, dance, dressage, rodeo, archery, or backcountry hunters and anglers.
What Are Some Things to Do off Campus?
Before you head to Land Between the Lakes, you need to get some breakfast. Trust us. Murray does breakfast right.
Rudy’s on the Square has been doing it for 80 years. Or try the Hungry Bear Pancake House or H.R.H. Dumplings. There’s Racer Nutrition and Granola Girls if you prefer to keep things healthy. Get your caffeine kick at Shaffer Coffee Co, 5th & Main, or Future Grounds. For dinner, you go fancy at the Willow Bistro, the Sirloin Stockade, or Goldenrod Cafe. Or keep it simple at Bad Bob’s Barbecue. Drinks are on tap at Hop Hound Brew Pub, Mugsy’s Hideout, Tap 216, at least four Tex-Mex places, and Jasmine’s Thai & Sushi Bar. Murray hosts farmer’s markets and Freedom Fest.
Murray is a fun place to live and also affordable. There are some great deals on off-campus housing at CEV Murray student apartments.