Columbia: Education and Research

Columbia: Education and Research

Elementary and Secondary Schools

The Columbia Public School District is the seventh largest in the state of Missouri. Local students rank in the 80th to 95th percentile on the Missouri Mastery and Achievement Tests for elementary schools. Over a four year period, Columbia students taking the national Scholastic Aptitude Tests averaged more than a hundred points higher than national average on both the verbal and math portions of the test. The district is among only a few in the nation that have graduated more than a half dozen Presidential Scholars since the honor was first established in 1964. The National Governor's Association has named the district one of only 16 model districts in the country.

In response to the No Child Left Behind Act, superintendent Phyllis Chase, new to the district in 2003 and the first African American to hold the position, has made impressive progress in closing the achievement gap between economically advantaged and disadvantaged students, as well as between African American and white students. Chase has chosen an elementary school—with a majority of African American students and more than 70 percent from lower income levels—to transform into a model school, lengthening the school year and considering a substantial raise in teacher pay. The community has voted to support this by approving a $22.5 million bond issue, even amidst a budget crunch. More than 60 percent of all teachers hold a master's degree. Special assessment efforts, reading intensive activities, and summer school programs are directed at students at risk of dropping out. At the other end of the achievement spectrum is the A + program in which students with superior attendance, grades, and citizenship records can earn free tuition to a two-year community college, vocational-technical schools, or the Columbia Area Career Center (run by the public school district). The free Summer Enrichment program offers core academic studies in the morning and enrichment activities in the afternoon. There is a Parents As Teachers program, a family literacy program in which adults can work on GED certification or other educational goals such as learning English, while their children attend pre-school, and other volunteer programs which encourage adult volunteers from the community to join in a partnership for mentoring or service skills education.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Columbia Public Schools System as of the 2003–2004 school year.

Total enrollment: 16,240

Number of facilities

elementary schools: 20

junior high/middle schools: 6

high schools: 4

other: 2 vocational centers

Student/teacher ratio: 22.5:1

Teacher salaries

minimum: $26,700

maximum: $47,229

Funding per pupil: $6,117

Columbia also has 11 private schools, mostly maintained by religious organizations, with enrollments totaling about 1,100.

Public Schools Information: Columbia Public Schools, 1818 W. Worley St., Columbia, MO 65203; telephone (573)886-2100

Colleges and Universities

The University of Missouri-Columbia (MU), with more than 27,000 students, offers 286 degree programs, including 95 bachelor degrees. MU was founded in 1839 and was the first public university west of the Mississippi. Columbia College, a private, coeducational institution, was originally called Christian Female College when it was founded in 1851. It was the first women's college west of the Mississippi to be chartered by a state legislature. It changed its name in 1970 when it went coed and offered bachelor's and post-graduate degrees in addition to associate's degrees. Columbia College now has almost 1,000 students at its day campus, and over 3,000 working adults at its evening campus, 30 extended campuses around the nation, including Guantanamo Bay, and an impressive online college. Stephens College, founded in 1833, is the nation's second oldest women's college. Stephens offers a liberal arts curriculum and pre-professional programs, with 23 majors and 20 minors in three schools of study. Stephens is the only four year women's college in Missouri and remains dedicated to women's education in the new millennium.

Libraries and Research

The Columbia Public Library is the newest addition to Daniel Boone Regional Libraries, which more than doubled its size. The $22 million project was completed in 2002 and boasts 110,000 square feet of space, 444,897 volumes, and 50 computer terminals. The design of the new building features curves and cylindrical shapes and a carefully planned system of signs that allow patrons to find things easily. Ellis Library at the University of Missouri-Columbia, with holdings of 10.2 million items including 3.2 million volumes, is one of the largest libraries in the Midwest. MU also has the Law Library, and six other specific branches for veterinary medicine, geological sciences, health sciences, engineering, journalism, and mathematical sciences. Its online catalog of resources, called MERLIN for Missouri Education and Research Libraries Information Network, makes materials available from the University of Missouri's four campuses and St. Louis University. MU's Special collections include an extensive historical and contemporary collection of government documents, Microform Collection, Rare Book Collection, Newspaper Collections, and the Comic Art Collection with original and reprints of classic comic strips, underground comics, and graphic novels. The State Historical Society of Missouri Library has special collections on church histories, literature, Midwestern history, and Missouri newspapers. Columbia College's Stafford Library has special collections in biography, history, American civilization, and costume. The Midwest Science Center Library features a collection on wildlife research. Stephens College has special libraries which encompass women's studies, educational resources, and children's literature.

A number of institutions have research facilities in Columbia. These include the Ellis Fischel Cancer Research Center at University of Missouri; the Center for National Food and Agricultural Policy (also at MU); the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center, which does research along with providing psychiatric inpatient treatment; the Missouri Coop Fish and Wild-life Research Unit; a division of the U.S. Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior; Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation, which holds an eye tissue bank and does research into glaucoma treatment and all things involving preserving and restoring eyesight; the Rehabilitation Research Foundation, part of MU's Health Psychology Department; and the U.S.D.A. Biological Control of Insects Research Laboratory.

The University of Missouri at Columbia has a budget of $141 million for research with an additional $161 million that is externally funded. Research topics include computer assisted reporting, agriculture and agronomy, animal sciences, arthritis, business and public administration, social sciences including studies on aging, spectrometry (analytical tools to identify chemical compounds and structures of molecules) diseases such as diabetes, cardiological disorders, and cystic fibrosis, exercise physiology, engineering, water resources, magnetic imaging technology, and nuclear engineering.

Public Library Information: Daniel Boone Regional Library, PO Box 1267, Columbia, MO 65205; telephone (573)443-3161; fax (573)499-0191