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The University of Missouri¡¯s 35,000 students hail from every county in the state, every state in America and roughly 120 countries worldwide.

Founded in 1839, it was the first public university to be established west of the Mississippi. Through its 18 colleges and schools, Mizzou ¨C as it is?known ¨C offers more than 300 degree programmes, including 89 online courses.

As well as this, it claims to be one of just six public universities in the US that houses a medical school, veterinary medicine college and law school all on one campus.

Established in 1999, the university¡¯s main campus is a botanical garden that spans 1,262 acres. Described by the university as a ¡°fertile academic environment¡±, it consists of tens of thousands of plants and trees, many of which have been arranged in special collections.

In and among this natural environment are a number of university sites that have been listed on the national register of historic places. These include the Francis Quadrangle ¨C or simply the Quad ¨C which features the Jesse Hall and The Columns, and the Sanborn Field and Soil Erosion Plots.

In total, the university has 357 buildings commanding nearly 20,000 acres of land across the state.

Through its International Centre, it has the largest study abroad programme in Missouri with around 1,000 students each year seizing the opportunity to enhance their education overseas.

As a member of the Association of American Universities, it has an advantage when attracting external funding and recruiting staff and students. It has an annual budget of over $2 billion, an endowment of around $852 million and spends roughly $246 million on research.

Mizzou has a living alumni network of over 300,000 people worldwide. It boasts a number of famous actors as graduates including Brad Pitt, George C. Scott and Chris Cooper to name a few.

The Mizzou mascot is a Bengal tiger and its colours are black and gold.