Middle Tennessee State University

Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU for short) is a public university in Murfreesboro, TN, and with an enrollment of 22,863 students as of the fall of 2006, it is the largest such school in the Tennessee Board of Regents system, with just over 2000 more students than the next largest school, the University of Memphis. The majority of the campus is located in the rectangle formed by E. Main Street, Middle Tennessee Boulevard, Greenland Drive and Rutherford Boulevard, just east of downtown Mufreesboro.

MTSU was established on September 11, 1911 as Midddle Tennessee Normal School, one of three such schools as demanded by the state General Assembly's 1909 General Education Bill. The initial school had a two-year teacher education program, which was expanded into a four-year Bachelor of Science degree when the school was reorganized as Middle Tennessee State Teachers College in 1925.

The college rapidly out-grew its initial purpose of being a teacher training school, calling for the addition of a Bachelor of Arts program in 1936, and finally the designation of the school by the General Assembly as a state college in 1943. Finally, in 1965, the institution was designated Middle Tennessee State University, and in 1991, its by-then five undergraduate schools and graduate program were designated colleges.

Today, MTSU is the alma mater of over 90,000 students, the employer of a teaching staff of 800, sprawling across 504 acres of land. It is a participant in NCAA Division I athletics, and its mens and womens sports teams are known as the Blue Raiders and Lady Raiders, respectively. Its current president is Sidney McPhee, PhD.

• College of Educational and Behavioral Sciences - The expanded original core of the university, consisting of its teacher education program, as well as programs in health and human performance, criminal justice, and psychology. The college is also home to the Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia and Project H.E.L.P.
• College of Liberal Arts - Organized around the traditional university subjects of literature, art, philosophy, languages and more. Home to the Albert Gore, Sr. Center and the Center for Excellence in Historic Preservation, as well as the recently established Middle East Center.
• Jennings A. Jones College of Business - Based out of the university's advanced Business and Aerospace Building, the College of Business is one of the largest and most sophisticated such program in the world. This college is the home of the Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise, as well as the university's well-respected Japan-U.S. Program.
• College of Basic and Applied Sciences - The university's largest college and home of its renowned aerospace program. The Military Sciences and ROTC program also fall within this college.
• College of Mass Communications - Home to the university's Recording Industry Department, one of the top programs in music production and the business of recording in the United States. The John Bragg Mass Communications Building is also home to the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies, as well as the offices of Sidelines, the university's student-edited newspaper.
• University Honors College - The Honors College was established in 1998 as a way of creating the feel of a small, liberal arts college on the larger university campus. The college is home to the Honors Lecture Series, a year-long study of a specific topic cullminating in student thesis presentations, and is based out of the recently completed Paul W. Martin, Sr. Honors Building.
• College of Graduate Studies - The graduate studies program was introduced in 1951, as has largely been the research arm of the university since that time. The college participates in the Academic Common Market, a partnership between universities in the southeastern United States allowing them to earn credits to apply to a masters or doctorate at any participating school.