Education
Kansas City's competitive advantage in business starts with a foundation laid by top-notch academic programming from K–12 through doctoral levels.
When it comes to educational opportunities, one of Kansas City’s defining words would be “choice.” With more than two dozen colleges and universities—many of them award-winning in their programming—plus plentiful quality public and private K-12 schools, it’s often just a matter of matching student needs with the right school.
Metropolitan Kansas City hosts two research universities that sit almost side-by-side. The University of Missouri-Kansas City is just two miles from the University of Kansas Medical Center.
With a focus on teaching and research in the fields of medicine, nursing and health professions, the University of Kansas Hospital recently formed a community link by merging with the Kansas City Cancer Center, adding 27 physicians to an already impressive faculty. Students receive hands-on experience and continuing education; graduate studies are also available for those already in the field.
UMKC is one of the four branches of the University of Missouri system. It offers more than 120 academic majors and programs to nearly 15,500 students, as well as more than 50 graduate degrees. All of this is done with a student/teacher ratio of 12:1. In addition to education in the medical field, UMKC offers studies from liberal arts and sciences to business, education, engineering, law, a conservatory of music and a school of dentistry among others.
Regional Choices
The University of Kansas, in Lawrence, is just 40 miles from Downtown Kansas City. With an undergraduate enrollment of 20,343, KU offers 130 undergraduate and 220 master’s, doctoral and professional degree programs. Among those offerings are top-ranked programs in public administration and special education. Like UMKC, KU offers study in a wide range of fields, including architecture, law, health professions, music and education, as well as an extensive liberal arts program.
A little farther away, another major option is offered at the University of Missouri–Columbia. With a fall enrollment of over 33,000, MU is a national top-tier institution and the flagship of the University of Missouri system. Like the other universities, MU offers a wide range of degree programs—280, to be exact. Often noted for its journalism program, MU also happens to be only one of five universities in the nation to offer medicine, veterinary medicine, law and a nuclear research reactor on one campus.
Almost the same distance in the other direction from Kansas City is Kansas State in Manhattan, with its own 250 majors and programs. Recognized by the Princeton Review as one of America’s best colleges, it supports more than 28,000 students with a similarly wide range of offerings. If attendance at K-State closer to Kanssas City is desired, there is a campus in Olathe, Kan. Only a 22-mile drive from Kansas City, the specialty there is graduate studies in bioscience and biotechnology.
There are more than 1,000 degree and program choices in these universities alone. And, similar to many schools today, they offer education on-line, so not only can prospective students in the Kansas City region choose from multiple schools, they can choose how to attend.
Private and Smaller Public Programs
For students leaning towards a smaller university or college, abundant choices are also available. The Kansas City region has a plethora of quality public and private small colleges and universities, again covering a multitude of studies.
With a student population of 11,637, the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg has 150 programs, as well as an international center, which enables students to study in almost every country in the world. North of Kansas City in Liberty is William Jewell College, noted in 2011 by Forbes magazine’s in its America’s Best Colleges report. Among other respected institutions in Missouri are Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, with 130 academic programs, and Park University in Parkville, named “Best Value” by Parents and Colleges. Rockhurst University and Avila University in Kansas City can also be added to the list.
One of the many quality schools on the Kansas side, Baker University in Baldwin City has five campuses offering professional and graduate studies. Benedictine College in Atchison has its own rating as one of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News and World Report and offers pre-profession majors in the areas of medicine and law to their extensive list. Notable schools also include Washburn University in Topeka, the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth and Mid-America Nazarene in Olathe.
The Kansas City region also offers many community colleges like the Metropolitan Community College system on the Missouri side, and, in Kansas, Johnson County Community College and Kansas City Kansas Community College.
Still other choices include the region’s specialty schools. Among multiple options are DeVry University, the Cleveland Chiropractic College, the Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience, and the Kansas City Art Institute.
Solid Foundation
Priming these post-secondary students are the Kansas City region’s K-12 schools, with high-scoring and award-winning districts and private schools. The Washington Post’s High School Challenge ranked Sumner Academy of Arts and Sciences first, followed closely by Blue Valley North, Blue Valley Northwest and Shawnee Mission East. In Missouri, Hogan Preparatory Academy was second, with Park Hill Senior and North Kansas City also in the Top 12.
Some of the many high-performing districts include Blue Springs, Park Hill, and Lee Summit in Missouri and the Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley districts in Kansas. Widely recognized programs from the private sector include Barstow, Oakhill Day, Pembroke Hill and Wentworth Military academies, as well as a network of excellent parochial schools.
Education is clearly flourishing in the Kansas City region. It’s no wonder so many are choosing to study here. 