Fort Hays State University

Fort Hays State University Introduction

Fort Hays State University is one of the several state-assisted institutions of higher education in Kansas. It is a liberal arts school in the mid-sized category, with an average student enrollment level of approximately 10,000. The setting for the school is the city of Hays, administrative center of Ellis County, and the local population tally has held firm at the low 20,000s mark for some time now.

Fort Hays State University was established in 1902 as a separate branch of the Kansas State Normal School with the stated purpose of facilitating education to the pioneers settling around Fort Hays, a remote and rugged military outpost that was closed at the end of the 19th century. Originally with an agricultural slant to the educational mandate, the school over the course of time came to be fairly comprehensive, resulting in the liberal arts format being offered presently. Nonetheless, as will be seen below, Fort Hays State University continues to offer outstanding degree programs in the agricultural field.

Fort Hays State University Academics

Fort Hays State University is broken down into four colleges, which are: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Leadership, the College of Education and Technology, and the College of Health and Life Sciences. The school is an accredited member of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges’ Higher Learning Commission, and individual programs have also received accreditation from competent bodies. These would include:

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education; the Kansas State Board of Nursing; the National Association of Schools of Music; the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education; the Kansas State Board of Education; the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology; the Council on Social Work Education; the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education; the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

The school’s various colleges have a collective total of 30 academic departments, with a total offer of over 60 major programs for undergraduate students and about 19 for graduate students.

The school offers associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well as a select few specialized degrees.

Fort Hays State University has had lots of success in launching its Virtual College, an online distance learning platform which provides students with the ability to pursue associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in several areas of study as well as certain professional certificates. All degrees obtained via the Virtual College program are accredited by the same authorities as are the case for the presence learning programs on campus, and in almost all cases the same teachers will teach a course in person and online (when offered in both formats).

As mentioned earlier, the school began with a heavy agricultural focus, and though it expanded past that mandate over the years, Fort Hays State University is a leader in agricultural research and studies in Kansas and nationally. The school is one of few to offer Agriculture as a major, with either a scientific or a business focus. The prestige of this academic department is backed up by the fact that the school has its own farm where a variety of livestock species are housed and crops grown for research and educational purposes.

Fort Hays State University Admissions

Fort Hays State University has a somewhat selective admissions process, and the school sets out very specific requirements for the admission of degree seeking students to the institution. Graduates from high schools in Kansas and those from high schools outside the state have separate requirements although they do not differ in substance too incredibly much, and generally the school wants people from the top third of their graduating class—otherwise, the university asks that applicants complete a pre-college curriculum with a 2.5 GPA or higher.

Fort Hays State University Financial Aid

The main form of financial aid at Fort Hays State University is provided via the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), though the school also has resources available through the Stressed Kansans Scholarship Program Application and the TEACH Grant. For full details on these funds, it is necessary to contact the school’s financial aid office.

Fort Hays State University Students

The wild plains of western Kansas make for an attractive and pleasing college campus, which helps to boost the school’s profile among applicants. Though the state of Kansas has deeded over 4,000 acres of land to the university, the main section of the campus sits on a plum plot of roughly 200 acres. With a well integrated, centralized campus building structure and excellent landscaping of the grounds, getting around the campus is an ease and many of the difficulties of getting around larger, more urban schools do not exist at Fort Hays State University.

In addition to the tranquil grass fields and lightly wooded areas, the campus also is graced with a meandering stream (named Big Creek) that traverses the grounds in zigzag fashion. Not only pleasant to the eyes, the stream is also used for educational purposes such as in biology and natural science courses, making for an easily accessible and rewarding natural laboratory.

The central axis of the campus is dominated by the academic buildings and the Forsyth Library, with student residence buildings, campus police, and even a greenhouse building being located off to the sides, as are the athletics facilities.

Forsyth Library is of a formidable size, and has a few special collections that give the university special appeal for certain students. For example, the Elmer and Eartha Pugh Trust Fund has helped amass a collection of books (fiction and nonfiction) that honor the area’s history as well as that of the American West in general, with themes such as pioneerism, Native American culture, railroad development, etc. On the other hand, a considerable collection of books and materials on World War II is present thanks to the considerable donation of William D. Pashchal, giving rise to the World War II History Collection in his name.

Well off in one corner of the campus is the Sternberg Museum, where an impressive collection of natural history and related items are on display. In tribute to the excellent paleontological conditions (as well as geological, archaeological, etc.) present in this part of Kansas, the museum holds nearly 4 million different specimens from different fields of study within natural history, many named after the museum’s namesake himself, Sternberg.

Fort Hays State University Athletics

The following sports can be found here:

• Men’s NCAA Division II, Men’s Intercollegiate and Men’s Intramural Baseball
• Men’s NCAA Division II, Women’s NCAA Division II, Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Scholarship and Women’s Scholarship Basketball
• Men’s NCAA Division II, Women’s NCAA Division II, Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Scholarship and Women’s Scholarship Cross_country
• Men’s NCAA Division II, Men’s Intercollegiate and Men’s Scholarship Football
• Men’s NCAA Division II, Women’s NCAA Division II and Men’s Intercollegiate Golf
• Men’s Intramural and Women’s Intramural Racquetball
• Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural and Men’s Club Soccer
• Women’s NCAA Division II, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural and Women’s Scholarship Softball
• Men’s Intramural and Women’s Intramural Table_tennis
• Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Scholarship and Women’s Scholarship Track_and_field
• Men’s NCAA Division II and Women’s NCAA Division II Track_indoor
• Men’s NCAA Division II and Women’s NCAA Division II Track_outdoor
• Women’s NCAA Division II, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural and Women’s Scholarship Volleyball
• Men’s NCAA Division II, Men’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural and Men’s Scholarship Wrestling

Fort Hays State University Local Community

Hays is a hub of activity for the entire western half of the state of Kansas, and students will find that this serves as a counterbalance to what might otherwise be perceived as the negative side of living in a small town. The city of Hays has been rated as one of the best places to live in the US in terms of quality of life, and ranks particularly high in comparison to other small cities.

The city has an outstanding medical facility, the Hays Medical Center, ranked as one of the best rural care centers in the country. The local airport gives residents frequent services to nearby metropolitan areas such as Denver and Kansas City, keeping the city plugged in with other, larger communities.

In addition to the outstanding Center for Health Improvement and other fitness and sports centers like the Smoky Hill Country Club and the Hays Municipal Golf Course, the natural surroundings are ideal for running and biking; furthermore, two major lakes are within less than an hour’s drive from the campus, providing boating, fishing and swimming activities.

Carnegie Foundation Classification

Master's Colleges and Universities (larger programs)

General Characteristics

Highest offering	Post-master's certificate
Calendar System	Semester
Years of college work required	N/A
Variable Tuition

Special Learning Opportunities

Distance Learning
ROTC — Army / Navy / Air Force	— / /
Study Abroad
Weekend College
Teacher Certification