About

About the University of Missouri–St. Louis

Recognized as a Community Engaged University by the Carnegie Foundation, the University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is the largest public research university in eastern Missouri, and the third largest in the state, priding itself on creating greater access to higher education and opportunity for its nearly 16,000 diverse students. UMSL confers more than 3,000 degrees annually and offers a wide range of baccalaureate and master’s degrees, two education specialist degrees and 17 doctoral degrees, including the only professional Doctor of Optometry program in Missouri. Established in 1963 as the fourth campus of the University of Missouri System, UMSL boasts more than 105,000 alumni, 73 percent of whom live and work in the St. Louis region. Learn more about UMSL, our various programs, and our economic impact today.

About Community Connect

UM System Community Connect sites tell the stories of partnerships with communities across the state and highlight ways to get involved.

In 2020, the UM System and each of its four universities launched their Community Connect platforms – tools designed to improve opportunities for communication and connection between the universities and various populations in the communities they serve.

Each Community Connect site features stories of community engagement, upcoming events, resources, services and campus contacts to support and facilitate community conversations. Each site also includes an Impact Report – key data about the impact the universities are making in their communities. At the UM System level, users can sort data by county or legislative district to see the programs, opportunities and impact data in targeted area in the report.

Users can also see how the UMSL campus is impacting our community, by looking at our campus-specific Impact Report. If you have questions about the UMSL Community Connect site, please contact our Engagement Leaders.

What is Engagement?

Fundamentally, community engagement is a collaborative process that aspires to mutually beneficial partnership. In this context, engagement encompasses all the ways in which the University of Missouri System and the greater community partner to establish a relationship of value, share information and improve the lives of those in Missouri and beyond.

The UM System Office of Engagement and Outreach recognizes and celebrates the engagement that happens organically through daily interactions between the public and each person, unit, department, office and school at all four universities across the system. The Office of Engagement seeks to leverage these interactions and foster even stronger ties with the citizens of Missouri through strategic engagement, which can come in many forms.