University of Missouri: Influence Ranking, Acceptance Rate & Notable Alumni

University of Missouri at a Glance

U.S. influence rank: #70
Acceptance rate (fall 2024): 78%
Tuition and fees (2025–26): $15,548
Graduation rate: 77%
Undergraduates (fall 2024): 23,929

Reviewed by James A. Barham, PhD, Vice President and Academic Editor. Influence ranks come from our InfluenceRanking™ methodology; other figures come from federal data, with the year shown under each section. Report an error

University of Missouri Featured Rankings

About University of Missouri

By James A. Barham, PhD

In brief

The University of Missouri (Mizzou), in Columbia, was founded in 1839 as the first public university west of the Mississippi River. It enrolls more than 30,000 students in 13 academic divisions. By our measure of academic influence, it ranks #70 in the United States and #198 in the world. It admitted 78.5% of applicants for fall 2024; admitted students had a median SAT score of 1240 and a median ACT score of 26.

It is perhaps best known for the Missouri School of Journalism, founded in 1908 as the world’s first professional school of journalism. Its Research Reactor Center is the most powerful university research reactor in the world and a leading US supplier of isotopes for nuclear medicine.

Where Mizzou’s influence is strongest

Mizzou’s influence is led by the earth sciences and communications. Its strongest broad fields, by US rank in our data, are:

Earth sciences: #27 in the US (#106 in the world)
Communications: #36
Education: #44
History: #48
Psychology: #51

Within those fields, Mizzou is a national leader in several specialties:

#2 in the US: soil science (only UC Berkeley ranks higher) and oenology (only UC Davis ranks higher)
#8: geography
#10: journalism

By comparison, Mizzou sits further back in philosophy (#94), physics (#97), and religious studies (#121).

How we measure influence: these ranks come from the citations and recognition earned by a school’s faculty and alumni in each discipline, not from surveys or admissions statistics. See our methodology.

Notable people

Mizzou is associated with three Nobel laureates: the chemist George P. Smith and the physiology or medicine laureates Frederick Chapman Robbins and Barbara McClintock. Other Mizzou-connected figures include the astronomer Harlow Shapley, the playwright Tennessee Williams, the economist Thorstein Veblen, the journalists Edgar Snow and Jim Lehrer, the singer Sheryl Crow, the actors Brad Pitt and Jon Hamm, and Walmart founder Sam Walton. Our full lists of Mizzou’s most influential alumni and faculty appear below.

Frequently asked questions

Is Mizzou hard to get into? No. It admitted 78.5% of applicants for fall 2024; the middle half of admitted students scored 580–670 on the SAT reading section and 570–660 on math.

What does Mizzou cost after financial aid? Tuition is $15,548 for Missouri residents and $37,820 for out-of-state students in 2025–26. The average net price for aided students with family incomes of $48,000–$75,000 was $15,464 in 2024–25; it ranged from about $14,754 for incomes of $30,000–$48,000 to $27,755 for incomes above $110,000.

How do Mizzou graduates do? 76.6% of students who started in 2019 graduated within six years, and 93% of first-year students return for a second year. Ten years after starting college, former students had median earnings of $69,958.

What is Mizzou best known for academically? By our influence data: the earth sciences and communications, plus soil science and oenology, where it ranks second in the country.

According to Wikipedia, The University of Missouri is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in 1839 and was the first public university west of the Mississippi River. It has been a member of the Association of American Universities since 1908 and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".

University of Missouri's Online Degrees

Graduate Certificate in Interactive Media

Required Credits: 15
Format: Fully online

Average Net Price by Family Income (2024–25)
Income	Average Net Cost
0 - 30K	$15,038
30K - 48K	$14,754
48K - 75K	$15,464
75K - 110K	$18,672
110K+	$27,755

University of Missouri

University of Missouri at a Glance

University of Missouri Featured Rankings

About University of Missouri

In brief

Where Mizzou’s influence is strongest

Notable people

Frequently asked questions

University of Missouri's Online Degrees

University of Missouri Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information

How Much Does University of Missouri Cost To Attend?

How Much Do University of Missouri Graduates Make?

University of Missouri's Demographics

Where is University of Missouri?

How Safe is University of Missouri?

What Is University of Missouri Known For?

University of Missouri's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered

Who Are University of Missouri's Most Influential Alumni?

Who Are University of Missouri's Most Influential Faculty?

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