Arkansas State

Arkansas State University

Other names	A-State
Motto	Educate, Enhance, Enrich: e3
Type	Public
Established	1909
Endowment	$54.9 million (2015)
Chancellor	Kelly Damphousse
President	Charles Welch
Academic staff	730
Administrative staff	1,463
Students	21,976 (system-wide) 14,074 Jonesboro campus (Fall 2016)
Postgraduates	3,709
Doctoral students	245
Location	Jonesboro, Arkansas, U.S.
Campus	1,376 acres (5.6 km2) Urban/Suburban
Colors	Scarlet, Black and White
Athletics	NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference
Nickname	Red Wolves (Indians 1931–2008)
Sports	16 teams
Mascots	Howl and Scarlet (formerly The Indian Tribe, Jumping Joe, Running Joe, and Red)
Website	www.astate.edu

21,976 (system-wide)

Arkansas State University (also known as A-State) is a public research university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the state's second largest college system and second largest university by enrollment. It is located atop 1,376 acres (5.6 km2) on Crowley's Ridge at Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. The university marked its centennial year in 2009. Arkansas State has Sun Belt rivalries with all West Division schools (Little Rock, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Texas State, and UT Arlington). Their primary Sun Belt rivals are Little Rock and Louisiana-Monroe.

A-State was founded as the First District Agricultural School in Jonesboro in 1909 by the Arkansas Legislature as a regional agricultural training school. Robert W. Glover, a Missionary Baptist pastor who served in both houses of the Arkansas Legislature from Sheridan (1905–1912), introduced in 1909 the resolution calling for the establishment of four state agricultural colleges, including the future ASU.

In 1918, ASU began offering a two-year college program. In 1925, it became First District Agricultural and Mechanical College. A four-year degree program was begun in 1930. A & M College became Arkansas State College in 1933. In 1967, the Arkansas Legislature elevated the college to university status and changed the name to Arkansas State University.

In the fall of 2014, A-State welcomed its most academically prepared freshman class. The result of several years of growing both admission standards and increasing on-campus housing, A-State's incoming first-year first-time student composite ACT was 23.9 with an average high school GPA of 3.47. This was the third consecutive year of improvement for the ACT/GPA freshman classes for Arkansas State. The Arkansas State Honors College has grown 59% since 2009. The university also posted back-to-back high graduate counts in spring 2012 and spring 2013, producing the most graduates in a two-year period in school history. The university contains the largest library in the state of Arkansas, the Dean B. Ellis Library.