Lincoln University, Missouri

Lincoln University of Missouri is a historically black, 1890 land-grant, public, comprehensive institution that provides excellent educational opportunities including theoretical and applied learning experiences to a diverse population within a nurturing, student-centered environment.

The mission of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) is to support the assessment, strategic planning, policy formation and decision-making processes of the University by providing accurate, timely and useful information. To accomplish this mission, the OIRA collects, manipulates and analyzes institutional data resulting in official university statistics and serves as the official data hub of the University.

The 4-Year Career Pathway clearly identifies the steps students need each year to gain the career readiness skills for a successful transition to a professional career after graduation. Starting with selection of a major, faculty, staff and mentors will help students to gain an increasing array of career readiness tools such as resume development, interviewing skills and obtaining internships and preparing for graduate school admissions.

The Career Center provides assistance to students and alumni looking for career opportunities. Students and Alumni may request assistance when needed. Alumni who are interested in mentoring students may request assistance when needed. The most successful students are the ones who prepare for their futures. The Career Center hosts a variety of workshops and seminars that will help to make a smooth transition from college students to professional.

Each semester employers are invited to participate in Career Forums by major course of study. Employers visit classrooms and acquaint students with the needed qualities and qualifications for their companies. Lincoln University Grad Prep Program is designed to prepare undergraduate students for success in graduate education. The LU Grad Prep Program goal is to provide sophomores, juniors and seniors with the opportunity to participate in workshops.

The Office of Recruitment and New Student Engagement's sole purpose is to recruit and transition a diverse, academically talented group of students to attend Lincoln University as dual credit, incoming, first-year, transfer, and international students. We are committed to retaining our students until degree completion.

Students should submit an Academic Accommodations Request Form for disability related services in the Office of Access & Ability Services as soon as possible after admittance to the University, in order that expressed needs can be met in a timely manner. Lincoln University reserves the right to require documentation of disabilities.

Lincoln University provides effective communication by making documents available upon request in Braille, large print, audio recording, and an accessible format. Videos and television programs may be provided by captioning. Please request auxiliary aides or services in a timely manner to ensure effective communication. The University also provides on-campus-housing accommodations for students with disabilities.

If students find that an academic program and or extra-curricular programs are inaccessible, they should report this to the Coordinator in the Office of Access & Ability Services or the academic dean of their college. Every effort will be made to make programs accessible

Lincoln University was founded in 1866 by the men of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored Infantries and their white officers, for the special benefit of freed African Americans. Today, Lincoln University's role in the education of Missourians and others and its service to stakeholders throughout the state, the nation, and across the globe is well recognized. Lincoln University continues to serve the needs of its diverse student body through a tradition of offering innovative programs that makes the college experience special.

At the close of the Civil War, soldiers and officers of the 62nd United States Colored Infantry, stationed at Fort McIntosh, Texas, but composed primarily of Missourians, took steps to establish an educational institution in Jefferson City, Missouri, which they named Lincoln Institute. The following stipulations were set for the school:

1. The institution shall be designed for the special benefit of the freed African-Americans.
2. It shall be located in the state of Missouri.
3. Its fundamental idea shall be to combine study and labor.

Members of the 62nd Colored Infantry contributed $5,000; this was supplemented by approximately $1,400, given by the 65th Colored Infantry. On January 14, 1866, Lincoln Institute was formally established under an organization committee. By June of the same year, it incorporated and the committee became a Board of Trustees. Richard Baxter Foster, a former first lieutenant in the 62nd Infantry, was named first principal of Lincoln Institute. On September 17, 1866, the school opened its doors to the first class in an old frame building in Jefferson City.

In 1870, the school began to receive aid from the state of Missouri for teacher training. In 1871, Lincoln Institute moved to the present campus. College-level work was added to the curriculum in 1877, and passage of the Normal School Law permitted Lincoln graduates to teach for life in Missouri without further examination. Lincoln Institute formally became a state institution in 1879 with the deeding of the property to the state. Under the second Morrill Act of 1890, Lincoln became a land grant institution, and the following year industrial and agricultural courses were added to the curriculum.

In 1921, the Missouri Legislature passed a bill introduced by Walthall M. Moore, the first black American to serve in that body, which changed the name from Lincoln Institute to Lincoln University and created a Board of Curators to govern the University.

The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited the high school division in 1925, the teacher-training program in 1926, and the four-year college of arts and sciences in 1934. Graduate instruction was begun in the summer session of 1940, with majors in education and history and minors in English, history, and sociology. A School of Journalism was established in February 1942.

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, and Lincoln University responded by opening its doors to all applicably meeting its entrance criteria. Today, Lincoln University serves a diverse clientele, both residential and non-residential, engages in a variety of research projects, and offers numerous public service programs in addition to providing an array of academic programs.