Utah State University

Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal land-grant institution, Utah State is one of two flagship universities for the state of Utah; it is classified among "Carnegie R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity". Utah State's main campus in Logan is the oldest and the largest public residential campus operating in Utah with over 84% of students living away from home.

Utah State's original charter focused on military science, technology, science, agriculture, and mechanical arts. By 1947, the military science program at Utah State had gained such prominence that USU became known as the "West Point of the West" since USU commissioned more officers into the U.S. military than any school in the nation except the United States Military Academy at West Point.

As of the Fall 2023 semester, Utah State had 28,063 enrolled students (with 20,259 students enrolled at its main campus in Logan) and more than 175,000 alumni located in all 50 states and more than 116 countries. The university has nine campuses statewide (including its main campus in Logan), 23 distance education centers, 30 county office locations, and more than 50 research institutes and centers. Among these research institutes is Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), which is the sole University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) for the United States Missile Defense Agency; and, is one of only 15 UARCs in the nation for the United States Department of Defense.

According to the National Science Foundation, USU is 83rd in the nation and 54th among public universities for total research and development revenue and expenditures with $344.9 million in 2022; USU is home to the second oldest undergraduate research program in the United States.

Utah State's athletic teams, the Utah State Aggies, compete in Division I as members of the Mountain West Conference.

Background and founding
On December 16, 1861, Representative Justin Morrill (VT) introduced a bill into the U.S. House of Representatives "to establish at least one college in each state upon a sure and perpetual foundation, accessible to all, but especially to the sons of toil..." President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act into effect in July of the following year.

Meanwhile, after visiting a few rural agricultural schools in his native Denmark, Anthon H. Lund of the Utah Territorial Legislature decided that there existed in the Utah Territory a need for such a school fusing the highest in scientific and academic research with agriculture, the way of life for the vast majority of locals. Upon returning to the United States, Lund heard about the Morrill Act and pitched a vision for the college that would receive widespread support among members of the Territorial Legislature, seeking to reapply for statehood. Now, there came the question of location. According to historian Joel Ricks, in 1938, "Provo had received the Insane Asylum, Salt Lake City had the University and Capitol, and most of the legislature felt that the new institutions should be given to Weber and Cache Counties." Citizens in Logan, Cache County, banded together and successfully lobbied representatives for the honor. The bill to establish the Agricultural College of Utah was passed on March 8, 1888, and on September 2, 1890, 14-year-old Miss Vendla Berntson enrolled as its first student.

Consolidation controversies
In its early years, the college narrowly dodged two major campaigns to consolidate its operations with the University of Utah. Much controversy arose in response to President William J. Kerr's expansion of the college's scope beyond its agricultural roots. Detractors in Salt Lake City feared that such an expansion would come at the University of Utah's expense and pushed consolidation as a counter.

In 1907, an agreement was struck to strictly limit the Agricultural College's curricula to agriculture, domestic science, and mechanic arts. This meant closing all departments in Logan, including the music department, which did not fall under that umbrella. Consequently, the University of Utah became solely responsible, for a time, for courses in engineering, law, medicine, fine arts, and pedagogy, despite the Agricultural College's initial charter in 1888, which mandated that it offer instruction in such things. The bulk of the curricular restrictions were lifted during the next two decades, with all restrictions on USU's academic growth being officially abolished by the Utah State legislature in the 1990s.

Widespread growth
The Agricultural College grew modestly amid the tumult, adding its statewide Extension program in 1914. A year later, it granted its first master's degrees. UAC, as the Utah Agricultural College was commonly abbreviated, also received a notable boost in students due to World War I. Colleges and universities nationwide were temporarily transformed into training grounds for the short-lived Student Army Training Corps, composed of students who received military instruction and could return to their educations following their military service. As the then-tiny campus could not otherwise support such large numbers of new students, college president Elmer Peterson convinced the state in 1918 to appropriate funds for permanent brick buildings, which could be used as living space for SATC students during the war, and instruction afterward. Though the war was soon to end, the campus essentially doubled in size. After World War I, the Military Science program continued to grow. In fact, by 1947 USU's military science program was so successful, and had gained such nationwide prominence, that USU came be known as the, "West Point of the West" as USU came to commission more officers into the military than any other school in the nation, with the exception of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

The 1920s and 1930s saw the genesis of significant growth. A School of Education was added in 1928, a prelude to the institution renamed Utah State Agricultural College in 1929. Doctoral degrees were first granted in 1950. In 1957, the school was granted university status as Utah State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, but the short name Utah State University is used even in official documents.

At the beginning of World War II, Utah State was one of six colleges selected by the United States Navy to give a Primary School in the highly unusual Electronics Training Program (ETP). Starting March 23, 1942, and each month after, a new group of 100 Navy students arrived for three months of 14-hour days in concentrated electrical engineering study. Smart Gymnasium was converted to a dormitory, and Old Main was fitted for classrooms and laboratories. Larry S. Cole was named program director, and Waldo G. Hobson was the director of instruction. ETP admission required passing the Eddy Test, one of the most selective qualifying exams given during the war years. At a given time, some 300 Navy students were on the campus, augmenting the war-years regular enrollment of 1,000. Sidney R. Stock had developed the Radio and Aviation Department earlier and entered the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander to assist in organizing electronics training. He was a member of the committee in Washington that planned the ETP and shortly returned to Utah State as the Officer-in-Charge. The ETP Primary School continued at Utah State until August 1944, graduating about 2,750 students in 30 classes.

During the late 1970s, controversy again erupted on campus surrounding the school's historically sizeable Iranian population. As U.S. relations with Iran began to deteriorate throughout the decade, Iranian students on campus began staging protests against the Shah, which demonstrations met with some backlash in the community. Following the outbreak of the hostage crisis of 1979, immigration officials arrived on campus to interview each Iranian, an event that alienated many international and domestic students. For a time, the population of Middle Eastern students declined sharply and has only recently begun to rise again.

Toward the end of the 20th century, Utah State began taking strides to shed its reputation as a small regional college and transform itself into a nationally prominent university. Under the auspices of President George Emert, who served at USU's helm from 1992 to 2000, the university's endowment increased from $7 million to $80 million.

21st century
USU forged collaborations with several foreign institutions and governments, especially under former president Stan Albrecht. The Merrill-Cazier Library opened in 2005, and other facilities have followed. In 2010, USU acquired both the Swaner EcoCenter outside Park City and the former College of Eastern Utah, with its two campuses and various undergraduate and vocational programs. In 2012, the university successfully concluded a $400 million fundraising campaign, the largest ever at USU.

System
The Utah State University operates a system of campuses throughout the state of Utah, and USU extension offices are located in every county in Utah.

Utah State also owns and/or operates the following agricultural, equestrian, botanical, and ecological centers: the Bastian Equestrian and Agricultural Center (Salt Lake City), the USU Botanical Gardens (Kaysville), the Ogden Botanical Gardens (Ogden), Thanksgiving Point (Lehi), the USU Equestrian Center (Nibley), and the Swaner EcoCenter (Park City).

The earliest roots of USU's distance education go back to 1904 when USU professors traveled by train from Logan to Burley, Idaho to deliver dairy lectures. In the 1950s, professors regularly drove around the state to teach courses and advise students. The first Statewide Campus, Uintah Basin, was designated by the Utah State Legislature in 1967. The next year, "flying professors" traveled weekly to teach at USU's various campuses and centers. Traveling from the centers was necessary until satellite systems were installed in 1996. In 2005, University President Stan Albrecht established USU Regional Campuses and Distance Education. The system grew in 2010 with the addition of USU Eastern to nearly one half of USU's enrollment. Today, the USU system includes the College of Eastern Utah, three regional campuses, twenty-one distance education centers, and thirty extension sites. In 2012, RCDE completed construction of the Regional Campuses Distance Education (RCDE) Building which houses broadcast classrooms, RCDE offices, and the Utah Education Network.

Utah State University has conducted studies and proposed long-term development master plans to the state of Utah, which have been approved in concept, to create residential and research campuses at each of its additional campuses throughout the State.

Utah State University Eastern
Located in Price, Utah, the former College of Eastern Utah joined the USU system in 2010 and became Utah State University College of Eastern Utah (USU Eastern). In 2013, the official name was shortened to Utah State University Eastern. USU Eastern operates a satellite campus, known as the Blanding campus, in Blanding, Utah. Before the acquisition, USU taught courses at the college through Regional Campuses and Distance Education (RCDE). USU Eastern is a junior college and offers associate degrees, certificates, and vocational programs. Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral courses, however, are available on-site through RCDE. USU Eastern competes as the Eastern Utah Golden Eagles and is the only campus besides Logan with an athletics program.

Statewide campuses
Regional Campuses and Distance Education (RCDE) work to fulfill USU's land-grant mission to increase access to high-quality education throughout Utah.

Regional campuses exist in Brigham City, Tooele, and the Uintah Basin (Vernal and Roosevelt). RCDE offers courses at Price and San Juan campuses that constituted the former College of Eastern Utah (now known as Utah State University Eastern). Distance Education operates 21 education centers throughout the state, including Moab, Kaysville, Ephraim, Orem, and Salt Lake City. At each of these locations, students may receive a wide selection of degrees without ever stepping foot on the Logan campus. Courses and degrees are also made available online through Distance Education.

USU has a growing presence in Moab, with 295 students in 2011. The City of Moab committed up to $75,000 per year over the decade beginning in 2012 to promote the development of the campus. Degrees specific to the community's needs, including social work and recreation resource management, are planned for the new campus.

Cooperative Extension
Started in 1914, Utah State University Cooperative Extension, referred to simply as Extension, provides research-based, unbiased information to communities through their county offices and is an integral part of a land-grant institution. Extension operates 30 offices throughout the state, which include Swaner EcoCenter, Thanksgiving Point, Utah State Botanical Center (Kaysville), Ogden Botanical Center, Bastian Equestrian and Agricultural Center (Salt Lake), and the Utah Botanical Center. With a focus on teaching, research, and public service, Extension programs include 4-H, agribusiness, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education, gardening and yard care, personal finance, and animal health.

Logan campus
USU's main academic, research, residential and innovation campus in Logan is situated on 600 acre at the mouth of Logan Canyon. The campus lies on a "bench", or shelf-like foothill overlooking the valley to the west. Mount Logan and the Bear River Range rise sharply to the immediate east.

The main campus includes over 100 buildings. Notable structures include Maverik Stadium; the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum; Old Main, the college's first building; the Merrill-Cazier Library, the 305000 sqft main university library; and the Manon Caine Russell-Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall.

The Logan City Cemetery splits much of the campus in half between largely the main academic campus (largely to the South of the cemetery) and the innovation and research campus (largely to the North of the cemetery). Buildings which constitute the residential, recreational and athletic campus are spread throughout the entirety of the property. To the South lie most academic buildings, and to the West and North are situated the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum and Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium, respectively. First Dam, the Logan Country Club, and the Utah Water Research Laboratory are located at the mouth of Logan Canyon and connect the canyon and the Cache National Forest, directly to the main university campus.

In addition to the main campus, USU owns over 1,000 acres of property to the North and South of the campus that is situated in Cache County. These properties largely form both the current and future Innovation and Research Campus, agricultural centers, and research farms. Many other scientific and agricultural research buildings and several of USU's research farms are located even farther to both the North and South of Cache Valley, and also throughout the state of Utah.

With over 30 of the largest species of trees in Utah and over 7,000 trees, Utah State University’s Logan campus has been recognized as an international arboretum through the ArbNet arboretum accreditation program.

Nearby Logan Canyon is a popular recreation destination for students, with a system of trails and parks running along the river. First Dam, a small man-made research reservoir operated by USU, is located on campus property and is a popular site for students and families for picnicking, paddle boarding, kayaking, and fishing. The Logan Country Club is also located directly adjacent to campus property and is home of the Utah State Aggies Mens Golf. In addition to camping and hiking, the canyon also serves as the primary route to nearby Beaver Mountain Ski Resort and Bear Lake. The university's Outdoor Recreation Program rents camping, water sports, mountain sports, and winter sports equipment to students, as well as providing them with area trail maps and expertise for their ventures into the canyon and elsewhere.

Student life


Utah State University is Utah's oldest and largest public residential campus. About 84% of Aggies live away from home.

Twenty-one widely varying on-campus buildings house single students, and 39 buildings on the north side of campus are available for married housing. Many more students live in the multitude of off-campus housing options nearby. Students on campus may dine in one of two cafeterias and the Forum Cafe at Merrill-Cazier Library, which offers paninis, soups, beverages, and more. There is also a full-service Skyroom restaurant and the Hub, which includes several dining options. On the east edge of campus sits Aggie Ice Cream, a local tourist hotspot dating back to 1888, which produces "world-famous" ice cream and cheese products, as well as sandwiches and soups.



Starting in Old Main, USU has had a creamery since its founding in 1888. Students studying dairying and domestic arts applied to learn how to make both ice cream and cheeses. In 1921, Gustav Wilster began working with the College of Agriculture. By 1922, students studied dairy technology, fluid milk processing, ice cream manufacture, dairy engineering, cheese manufacture, butter making, dairy facility inspection, and dairy product judging. Wilster's students would go on to create Casper's Ice Cream, Farr's Ice Cream, and Snelgrove's Ice Cream. In 1975, the Nutrition and Food Sciences building was built, which is where Aggie Ice Cream is housed today. Aggie Ice Cream receives its milk from the Caine Dairy Research and Teaching Center located near the Wellsville Mountains.

Along with Aggie Ice Cream, USU also owns and operates it own chocolate factory, The Aggie Chocolate Factory, through the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. The Aggie Chocolate Factory has shoppes located on both the academic and residential campuses in Logan and in the athletic stadiums. During the winter, the Aggie Chocolate Factory will also sell its own-made hot cocoa; during hot days, they will sell "Frozen As"—a "tongue-in-cheek" iced-cocoa drink popular with students and fans.

Well-known student traditions include the rite of passage of becoming a True Aggie, which requires a student to kiss someone who is already a True Aggie on top of the Block "A." Two students may also become True Aggies together on Homecoming night or A-Day. At one point recently, USU held the title in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most couples kissing at the same place at the same time. Nearby the Block "A" is the lighted "A" atop the Old Main tower, which shines white throughout the entire valley and blue on nights when a varsity sport has picked up a victory, or other special events have occurred on campus.

Every student at Utah State is represented by the Utah State University Student Association (USUSA), which is composed of 17 elected student officers and five appointed student officers. These officers typically oversee a particular area of responsibility that is outlined in each officer's charter. The duties of USUSA officers can range from managing campus events and activities to promoting and advocating for particular initiatives at the Utah State Legislature. In February of each school year, campaigns are launched by students who wish to serve in the following year's USUSA. Campaigns last one week and consist of a primary and general election in which the top two vote-getters from the primary advance to the general election, and the candidate who receives a majority vote in the general election is announced as the winner.

The USUSA received significant attention during the 2016–2017 school year when the organization declared a mental health crisis at Utah State University. The legislation (written by USUSA Student Body President Ashley Waddoups, USUSA Student Advocate Vice President Matthew Clewett, and USUSA Graduate Studies Senator Ty Aller) sought to raise awareness of significant wait times for students to utilize CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) at Utah State as well as the increasing number of students who were suffering from mental health-related illnesses. After a successful lobbying campaign, the USUSA was able to influence the Utah State Legislature to pass a resolution declaring a mental health crisis at all Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) institutions. The resolution was subsequently signed by Utah Governor Gary Herbert in March 2017.

Students have full access to the HPER (pronounced "hyper"), Nelson Fieldhouse, and the ARC (Aggie Recreation Center) exercise facilities, which include basketball courts, indoor rock climbing, gymnastics equipment, two swimming pools, racquetball, squash, and outdoor field space for lacrosse, rugby, soccer, ultimate, and other sports. USU students are also involved in more than 100 clubs, an active and influential student government, seven fraternities and three sororities, multiple intramural and club sports, and a student-run radio station.

In 1970, Utah State student Sue Brown and Director of Student Activities Val R. Christensen created one of the first service organizations in the nation. VOICE, Volunteer Organization for Involvement in the Community and Environment, worked to improve the environment and social issues in Cache Valley. VOICE became The Val R. Christensen Service Center in 1999 in honor of Dr. Christensen's efforts and support of the organization. Today, students are involved in more than 20 service organizations including Aggie Special Olympics, Aggies for Africa, Alternative Breaks, and Senior University.

Given USU's history and traditions as a land-grant school with an original charter for, in part, military sciences, Utah State supports a robust ROTC program for the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Air Force. Members of the ROTC participate in either uniform or field attire as the color guard at home athletic events. Members of the ROTC are also present on the field and in the stadium at every home football game. Wearing field attire, members of the ROTC perform pushups and fire a 75mm howitzer cannon at initial kickoff and each time after the Aggies score points. The cannon is also fired at the end of the game after every home team victory. Utah State ROTC cadet activity and presence both on and off the field is especially present at events surrounding Veteran's Day, and during athletic events when the Aggies compete against fellow Mountain West Conference rivals, the U.S. Air Force Academy Falcons. During certain home and away games, USU's mascot, Big Blue, will also don military field attire. Utah State's ROTC cadets also participate in other opportunities and events both on and off campus, including at the annual USU homecoming parade in Logan.

USU's mascot, Big Blue, is visible presence at home and away games and also in the greater Logan and Utah communities. While nowadays Big Blue is most always seen as an athletic and acrobatic member and leader of the Spirit Squad in costume attire that performs dance moves and athletic stunts to the delight of USU fans, occasionally and historically Big Blue was and is a real-life white rodeo-trained bull dusted in animal-safe and animal-friendly blue color chalk. However, when the new Spectrum was built, concerns over the real-life bull scuffing up the basketball court gave rise to the student version of the mascot becoming the more visible and public avatar of Big Blue. Big Blue will most always perform dance and acrobatic feats with the Spirit Squad and in the stadiums at home athletic events. At home football games, the student version of Big Blue leads the Aggie Football team onto the field between twin pillars of fire while he rides a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Around Veteran's Day and when the Aggies are competing in athletic events against in-conference rivals, the Air Force Falcons, Big Blue will also don military field attire during those games. Big Blue is seen somewhat as a local celebrity, especially in and around Logan and, the student version, is often seen taking pictures and signing autographs with students, fans and children in the community. It is considered an honor for a student to be named "Big Blue" and tryouts are held for the honor. Once chosen as Big Blue, the student chosen cannot divulge to the student body or the public he is Big Blue until he officially steps down from that role in a formal, and oftentimes emotional, "de-masking" ceremony.

Utah State has a rich history of a variety of traditions, including its two fight songs ("Hail the Utah Aggies" and "The Scotsman") and various chants (including "I Believe"). The Scotsman is particularly notorious given its history and the unified standing body and hand motions made in unison by the student body and fans as part of the song. Other traditions and events for students are sponsored by USU, the HURD, and the Student Association and held throughout the year and include Homecoming and "The Howl", the latter being the largest publicly-sponsored Halloween celebration in the state of Utah for USU students and their friends attending other schools. Other annual student events include the Luminary Processional, to welcome new students each fall, and The End of Year Bash, a concert on campus to culminate the end of the academic year each April.

USU's main campus in Logan and/or the city of Logan has received various recognition and awards in recent years including: "Best College Town" and "Most Beautiful Campus in Utah". Utah, as a state, has the youngest per capita population age of any state in the U.S. and Cache County is the second youngest county in the state of Utah—second only to Utah County. Cache County is home to a vibrant arts scene, including the Utah Arts Festival, the Utah Festival Opera, the Cache Civic Ballet, the Ellen Eccles Theater, and the Utah Music Theater Festival. Logan Canyon and the Cache National Forest, the mouth and entry of which is directly adjacent to the main academic campus property, are popular recreation destinations for students as is Beaver Mountain Ski Resort, Bear Lake, Powder Mountain Ski Resort, Cherry Peak ski area, and other local trail sites (including Green Canyon), local golf courses, and local lakes and reservoirs (including Hyrum Reservoir). Many students take advantage of Utah's ski season with the Utah's YETI ski pass, which allows them limited access to all of Utah's 14 ski resorts. Utah's seven national parks and national monuments are located within a few hours drive of the main campus, as is Yellowstone National Park and Teton National Park in Southwestern Wyoming and Southeastern Idaho. These, along with nearby Lava Hot Springs, are also popular weekend getaway destinations for students and student organizations. The university's Outdoor Recreation Program rents camping, water sports, mountain sports, and winter sports equipment to students, as well as providing them with area trail maps and expertise for their ventures into Logan, Logan canyon, Cache County and elsewhere.

Colleges
In 1903, USU was divided into six schools: the School of Agriculture, the School of Military Science, the School of Agricultural Engineering and Mechanical Arts, the School of Home Economics, the School of General Science, and the School of Commerce. In 1923, the university expanded to seven academic colleges: Agriculture, Home Economics, Military Science, Agricultural Engineering, Commerce and Business Administration, Mechanic Arts, and General Science. In 1924, the institution added a School of Education, and restructured the School of General Science to include a School of Basic Arts and Sciences.

Today, USU is organized into ten academic colleges:

A tenth college, the College of Veterinary Medicine, was announced in the Spring of 2022 and is the first four-year veterinary school in the State of Utah. Rather than continuing as a separate college, Utah State's military science and ROTC programs (including the Center for Anticipatory Intelligence) are currently housed in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences while Utah State's aviation, flight technology, and drone technology programs are currently housed in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. Utah State's aerospace programs are currently housed in the College of Engineering and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (which includes the Air Force and Army ROTC programs) and in collaboration with the Space Dynamics Laboratory.

Caine College of the Arts
Formerly existing as a non-degree-granting institution within the College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, the Caine College became a free-standing college on July 1, 2010. The Caine College of the Arts houses the departments of Art & Design, Music, and Theatre Arts, along with the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art. Performance facilities include the Chase Fine Arts Center, which houses the Kent Concert Hall among other venues, and the free-standing Manon Caine Russell-Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall, completed in 2006. The 400-seat Performance Hall, designed by the architectural firm Sasaki Associates, has been praised as one of the best acoustic performance spaces in the American West, and received an Honor Award from the Utah Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and opened in 1982, contains one of the largest art collections in the Intermountain Region. Its holdings include nationally significant collections of ceramics, Native American art, and especially artworks produced in the American West since 1945.

USU's music program includes opera singer Michael Ballam and the Fry Street Quartet, USU's string quartet-in-residence.

College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
The College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences was the first academic college at USU and is known for ground-breaking animal genetics and human nutrition and food science research, as well as other significant breakthroughs and global outreach in plants and soil science, animal science, veterinary science, and economics and applied agriculture. College researchers were instrumental in the creation of the first cloned equines (horses) in a project collaboration with researchers at the University of Idaho. The college is also a leader in the international project to classify and research the sheep genome. The College of Agriculture includes six departments: Applied Sciences, Technology & Education (Aviation Technology); Animal, Dairy & Veterinary Sciences; Applied Economics; Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning; Nutrition, Dietetics & Food Sciences; and Plants, Soils & Climate.

The college is also home to Utah's first Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program. The program is a regional program in collaboration with Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Each year, the program accepts 20 Utah residents and ten non-Utah residents. Students spend their first two years receiving pre-clinical training at USU's Logan campus. They spend their final two years at WSU's College of Veterinary Medicine in Pullman, Washington, completing their clinical portion of veterinary education.

The College of Agriculture and applied sciences also houses Utah State's aviation, flight technology, and drone technology programs via its own fleet of aircraft hangared at the nearby Logan airport.

In 2013, the college's name was changed from the College of Agriculture to the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences to reflect the broad nature of the college.

College of Engineering
The Utah Water Research Laboratory is the oldest and largest facility of its kind in the nation. The lab heads and contributes to numerous international projects, particularly in arid Middle Eastern nations.

College of Humanities and Social Sciences
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences teaches required core classes. The college houses eight departments and more than 30 programs. Departments include English, history, journalism and communication, languages, philosophy and speech communication, military science, political science, sociology, social work and anthropology.

In the Humanities, USU has long history in the study of the American West. The university, through its departments of English and history, respectively, is the host institution for the scholarly journals Western American Literature and the Western Historical Quarterly, the official publications of the Western Literature Association and the Western History Association, respectively. Additionally, the Department of Journalism and Communication broadcasts weekly the award-winning A-TV News and publishes the student-run Aggie BluePrint magazine.

The Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, a Humanities outreach center at USU, sponsors public events and research focusing on the cultures and history of the Interior West and larger American West. University Special Collections and Archives, located at the Merrill-Cazier Library, has extensive archival holdings documenting the histories of Utah, the Intermountain West, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as one of the nation's largest collections pertaining to American folklore, and the lives and works of western authors such as Jack London and poet May Swenson, a Logan native and USU alumna.

The college also houses the USU Museum of Anthropology, currently located in Old Main.

Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
USU's Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services was founded in 1924 and has around 5,700 students. In 2023-2024, the college was ranked #36 (tie) for "Best Education Schools" by U.S. News & World Report. The college is accredited by the American Psychological Association. Faculty are active in many of areas of research, including neuropsychology, child development, health psychology, behavior therapy, and quantitative psychology.

Department of Psychology professor Karl R. White is director of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management, which focuses on the early identification and intervention of hearing loss in infants and young children.

USU is the only university in Utah with a Housing and financial Counseling program offered through the college's Family, Consumer, and Human Development Department. This program offers debt counseling, budget counseling, mortgage default prevention counseling, and reverse mortgage counseling through the USU Family Life Center, which also houses the Marriage & Family Therapy Clinic.

Jon M. Huntsman School of Business
In 2007, Utah State's College of Business became the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business after a $26 million donation by philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr.

The Huntsman School of Business is the oldest continuously operating business college in the Western United States. It offers several graduate and undergraduate degrees in fields including management, accounting, economics, finance, and management information systems (MIS). The bachelor's degree in international business is unique to USU within the state.

The Huntsman School of Business also houses the Shingo Institute, an outreach program that develops executive education to be licensed and taught to leaders of organizations worldwide. The Shingo Institute also administers the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence.

In 2011, the Utah Legislature approved funding for a new business building to be located south of the Eccles Business Building. The new building was funded by $36 million in private funds and $14 million in state funds. The 117000 sqft building was completed in 2016 and includes classrooms, faculty offices, a business library, and three new business centers.

S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources
The college operates the Quinney Library, which houses collections relevant to natural resources education, management, and research. The college was formally renamed the S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources in 2012 after a $10 million donation was received by the S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney Foundation. The Quinneys were both graduates of USU (then the Agricultural College of Utah), and their foundation has supported the College of Natural Resources for 40 years, contributing more than $40 million in all.

Academics
As of Fall 2023, there were 28,063 students enrolled of whom 25,048 were undergraduate students and 3,015 were graduate students. The university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Utah State has over 270 degree offerings, including: 137 undergraduate degrees, 95 master's degrees, and 39 doctoral degrees. Utah State has a 18.89 to 1 student to faculty ratio and an average undergraduate class size of 16.7 students. USU offers over 1,000 study abroad opportunities in 90 countries.

According to Business Insider in 2015, USU was the 25th "Most Underrated College" in the United States.

In 2017, MSN named Utah State University as the No. 1 school in the nation among 1,600 considered schools "based on affordability, flexibility, and other quantitative factors."

Admissions
In Fall 2022, Utah State received 16,069 applications for first-time freshman enrollment, from which 15,061 applications were accepted (93.7%) and 4,625 freshmen enrolled, a yield rate of 30.7%. The freshman retention rate is 74.5%, with 52.5% going on to graduate within six years.

Rankings
In 2021, Utah State was ranked as a national leader for its undergraduate research programs by the Council for Undergraduate Research.

Most recently in 2022, Washington Monthly ranked Utah State 22nd among 442 national universities in the U.S., and also the 8th best public university in the nation based on Utah State's contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.

In 2023, U.S. News & World Report ranked USU 11th in the nation for "Best Online Bachelor's Programs" in 2023 out of over 360 reviewed. Forbes ranked the university No. 140 in Public Colleges, No. 177 in Research Universities, and No. 74 among colleges in the West in 2023.

Research


Utah State University is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". USU was 83rd in the nation for total research and development expenditures with $344.9 million in 2022.

Utah State has over 50 research insitutes and centers. Notable research centers based at USU include the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Bingham Energy Research Center, Center for Integrated Biosystems, Center for Growth and Opportunity, Center for Anticipatory Intelligence, Energy Dynamics Laboratory, The Stephen R. Covey Leadership Center, Utah Water Research Laboratory, Center for High Performance Computing, Ecology Center, Utah Climate Center, Center for Advanced Nutrition, Thanksgiving Point, Center for the School of the Future, National Aquatic Monitoring Center, Ogden Botanical Center, Swaner EcoCenter, Intermountain Center for River Rehabilitation and Restoration, Bastian Agricultural and Equestrian Center, Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management, The Shingo Institute, Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land Water and Air, and Utah Botanical Center.

, Utah State University has placed more student experiments into space than any educational institution in the world. In 2024, Utah State became a member of the U.S. Space Command Academic Engagement Enterprise.

Space Dynamics Laboratory
Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), a contractor owned by Utah State, is one of 15 University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) of the United States Department of Defense and is the UARC for the Missile Defense Agency. As of 2018, SDL has conducted over 430 successful space missions and deployed over 500 hardware and software systems.

Some of SDL's projects include:
 * WISE
 * SABER
 * SOFIE
 * ICON
 * OSIRIS-REX
 * GASPACS

In 2021, Utah State received a $1 billion contract for aerospace research, including "space and nuclear advanced prototypes, experiments and technology," from the Air Force Research Laboratory, which is the largest contract ever awarded by the AFRL.

In partnership with SDL, Utah State has placed more experiments into space than any institution of higher learning in the world.

USTAR
Along with the University of Utah, USU is an anchor in the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) program, which is aimed at optimizing the region's most marketable strengths to bolster Utah's high-tech economy. Eight USTAR teams currently perform research at Utah State as follows:

Undergraduate Research
USU's Undergraduate Research program was founded in 1975 making it the second program of its kind in the nation (i.e., second oldest after MIT); and, in 2021, was named the "Best Undergraduate Research Program in the Nation" by the Council on Undergraduate Research.

Animal and Veterinary Sciences
Since 2022, Utah State is home to the only college of veterinary medicine operating in the state of Utah.

A team of USU and University of Idaho researchers were the first in the world to successfully clone an equine. The baby mule, named Idaho Gem, was born May 4, 2003.

USU researchers made headlines in 2011 after breeding transgenic goats. Utah State University professor Randy Lewis' "spider goats", the milk of which contains spider silk, are being studied for uses including human muscle tissue and light-weight bulletproof vests.

Research Farms
Utah State also owns and operates 14 separate research farms as well as several additional equestrian, agricultural, ecological, and botanical centers located through the state of Utah.

Swaner EcoCenter
In 2010, Utah State received ownership of the more than $30 million Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter outside of Park City. The center consists of a 1200 acre land trust and a 10000 sqft, state-of-the-art facility dedicated to environmental education. The preserve protects critical wetland and foothill terrain in the heart of one of the state's fastest-growing areas, and the EcoCenter, completed in 2009, is a multi-use facility with space for educational and community activities. The facility is LEED Platinum Certified, the highest standard for design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

Open Courseware
Utah State University promotes the OpenCourseWare (OCW) Project (open and free university courses) and is developing an open content management system for OCW called eduCommons. This open source content management system is one of the important technology projects in the MIT OpenCourseWare Initiative. eduCommons aids in the creation of OCW sites and has already been adopted by several universities for this purpose.

Athletics


Utah State University supports organized athletics within the varsity intercollegiate, club intercollegiate, and intramural categories. Since its founding in 1888, USU's varsity and club sports and its players have won 16 national championships.

Varsity athletics
USU's has 16 formal varsity sports teams recognized through Aggie Athletics. They are known as the Utah State Aggies and are a part of the NCAA Division I Mountain West Conference (MWC), which they joined in the summer of 2013. The university's varsity teams have won 37 conference championships including three national championships (i.e., once in Women's Volleyball and twice in Softball). Golfer Jay Don Blake won the 1980 NCAA Championship and was named NCAA Player of the Year in 1981. Utah State University's 90 All-American athletes have been named All-American 134 times. Utah State Aggies has 16 NCAA Division I teams including:

The men's basketball team plays in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, which has been named among the nations "15 Toughest Places To Play In College Basketball." ESPN has also named USU's student section, The HURD, among the smartest in the nation. During the 2008–09 season, USU's ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll rose as high as #17. USU basketball was 193–13 (.937) at home during the Stew Morrill era, having received 6 NCAA Tournament berths in between 2000 and 2010, and amassed more wins than any team in the nation except Duke, Kansas, and Gonzaga during that time. Utah State captured the Mountain West regular season title in 2018-19 and back-to-back tournament titles during the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons. The Aggies have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in the last three seasons.

USU's football team is one of 128 schools in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. After many years of futility in football, USU rose to new heights under head coach Gary Andersen, ending the 2012 regular season with its USU's first-ever 10-win season, its first Western Athletic Conference championship in football, and nationwide Top 25 rankings in all three major polls.

In addition to Andersen's hiring, the football program's renaissance can be attributed in part to a recent emphasis, under Athletics Director Scott Barnes, on recruiting, TV coverage, fundraising, facilities upgrades, and internal reorganization, despite the athletics department's dismal budget in comparison with other state and WAC schools. In recognition of these efforts, USU Athletics was crowned the 2009 National Champion of the Excellence in Management Cup, which seeks to identify the university that wins the most championships with the lowest expenses Matt Wells was named head coach of USU's football team before the 2013–2014 season. In December 2020, Utah State University vice president and director of athletics John Hartwell announced Blake Anderson as the Aggies' 29th head football coach.

The Aggies were members of the WAC between 2005 and 2012, and the men's teams won several conference championships in that time, including football in 2012, basketball in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, indoor track in 2008, 2010, 2011, outdoor track in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011, cross country in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011. Women's teams also won WAC championships, including volleyball in 2012, soccer in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012, cross country in 2006 and 2008, outdoor track in 2012, and indoor track in 2012. Utah State has won numerous conference championships in previous conferences. National championships include women's volleyball in 1978 and softball in 1980 and 1981.

As members of the Mountain West Conference, the Aggies have claimed a division title in football and played in the inaugural Mountain West Championship Game in 2013. The men's tennis team won the regular season Mountain West Conference championship in 2016. The men's tennis team won both the Mountain West Conference regular season and tournament championships in 2017. The men's cross country team captured the MW title in 2019 and the volleyball team won the MW regular-season crown in 2021.

Club athletics
Utah State University's clubs (which also compete through Aggie Athletics and are known as the Aggies) have seen national success, winning fifteen national titles. USU's baseball club has won two national championships, first in 2012 and then again in 2014. The rodeo club has two individual national champions, Garrett Thurston and Trevor Merrill. The handball club has claimed nine national titles among its roster members. And the USU Cycling Club has two individual national championships.

Utah State's Logan Campus is the largest residential public campus in the state and, as such, there exists officially through Aggie Athletics an array of competitive club sports which students can try out, participate, and compete in including:

Intramural
Intramural sports are offered to students, faculty, and staff in connection with Aggie Recreation and various on- and off-campus resources and facilities.

Media
Journals published by the university include Utah Science, Western Historical Quarterly, and Western American Literature. The Utah State University Press publishes works in composition studies, folklore, Mormon history, Native American studies, nature and environment, and western history.

The Utah Statesman, or simply The Statesman, is the primary news outlet serving the USU student body. The Statesman is a student-run paper with a faculty adviser. The paper is funded partly by a student fee of $2 per semester and partly by the sale of advertisements. The Statesman is published once a week and distributed free of charge to on-campus locations and off-campus in Downtown Logan. The Statesman won the Society for Professional Journalists's Best Column Writing award in 2002 and Best Non-Daily Student Paper in 2005.

Aggie Radio 92.3 KBLU-LP, an entirely student-run radio station, broadcasts to Cache Valley and online. Aggie Radio is the home of local, alternative, and independent music for USU students and the Cache Valley Community. Programming can be found online via RadioFX, with many of its podcasts available through major distributors. Aggie Radio is an affiliate of Learfield IMG College and broadcasts all of the Utah State University Football and Women's and Men's Basketball games throughout the season.

Utah Public Radio, based at the university in the MDLS building, is heard on KUSU (91.5 FM) and KUSR (89.5 FM) in Logan and throughout Utah on a system of 26 translators. UPR broadcasts "a mix of information, public affairs, and fine arts programming." KUSU is a National Public Radio member station, and an affiliate of Public Radio International.

Aggie Television (ATV) is a cable service lineup of approximately 110 channels offered free of charge to all on-campus residents. ATV produces Crossroads, a bulletin/announcement channel, and Aggie Advantage, providing local and student video programming.

Notable people
USU is associated with seven Rhodes Scholars, one Nobel Prize winner, one MacArthur Fellows Program inductee, four recipients of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, various astronauts (including aerospace pioneer Mary L. Cleave), thirty-four recipients of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, various political and congressional leaders (both domestic and foreign), members of the judiciary and heads of state of various U.S. states (including the current governor of Utah, Spencer Cox), ambassadors, and even heads of foreign governments (including Hesham Qandil, former Prime Minister of Egypt). Utah State alumni also include various musical, theatrical, literary and film artists, professional athletes and coaches, and current and past leaders (i.e., CEOs, Presidents, Board Members, other leaders) of various public and private companies, both for-profit and non-profit, having a global presence. Notably, these have also included presidents, apostles, and global ecclesiastical leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—including Ezra Taft Benson, former Secretary of Agriculture for the United States of America and, later, both Apostle and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On June 13, 1899, graduates of the Agricultural College of Utah met to create the Alumni Association. Today, the Alumni Association is located in the historic David B. Haight Alumni Center, which was dedicated on July 11, 1991. Alumni chapters exist in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Washington, D.C. USU's 149,000 alumni live in all U.S. states and more than 110 countries.

Particularly notable alumni include Harry Reid, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader; Lars Peter Hansen, one of the three Americans to win the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences; May Swenson, poet; Merlin Olsen, pro football hall-of-famer, actor, and TV personality; Ardeshir Zahedi, former Iranian Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the U.S. under the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Shah; LaDonna Antoine-Watkins 1996 and 2000 Olympic sprinter; Chris Cooley, pro-football tight-end for the Washington Redskins; Mary L. Cleave, NASA astronaut, Bobby Wagner, a linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks, Lloydene Searle, professional soft ball player and USU Head Softball Coach for 17 years; South Korean film and television actress, Cha Joo-Young; Julie A. Robinson, Chief Scientist of the International Space Station (ISS) Program at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center; Bibhu Mohapatra, New York-based fashion designer and costume designer; and Ann Overdiek Dalton, co-founder of Perfectly Posh.

Particularly notable faculty include Stephen R. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; Michael Ballam, renowned tenor and general director of the Utah Festival Opera; Don L. Lind, NASA Astronaut and member of "The Original 19"; George Dewey Clyde, Governor of Utah; Christopher Cokinos, award-winning poet and nonfiction writer; Hugo de Garis, artificial intelligence researcher; Rainer Maria Latzke, mural and fresco painter, and founder of the Institute of Frescography; David Peak, physicist, Utah Carnegie Professor of the Year, and mentor to 1 Rhodes and 7 Goldwater Scholars; Richard B. Powers, American psychologist; Joseph Tainter, anthropologist and historian; and Maura Hagan, Professor of Physics and Dean of the College of Science at Utah State University.