2018-2019 Undergraduate Bulletin > Policies and General Information > General Information > CMU Today

CMU Today

Central Michigan University is among the nation’s 100 largest public universities, with more than 18,000 students on its Mount Pleasant campus. CMU also has nearly 9,100 students enrolled online and at more than 35 locations across North America, including 16 centers and sites across the state of Michigan.

CMU offers academic programs at the undergraduate, master’s, specialist and doctoral levels, including nationally recognized programs in entrepreneurship, journalism, music, audiology, teacher education, psychology and physician assistant medical and health sciences. CMU also established a College of Medicine in 2012, graduating its first class of medical doctors in May 2017.

With accomplished professors, there are countless opportunities for students to engage in applied research in world-class facilities. CMU is committed to providing students with a superior learning environment and global perspective to compete in an increasingly complex world.

CMU’s impact and influence extend far beyond its main campus into the state, nation and world.

• CMU has been nationally recognized for its Sarah R. Opperman Leadership Institute and academic minor in leadership, the first offered by a Michigan university.
• The award-winning Honors Program administers the prestigious Centralis Scholarship Program and oversees approximately 200 faculty-mentored honors undergraduate research projects annually.
• Thousands of students work through the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center to help others locally, nationally and around the world, with nearly 70 percent of students volunteering each year. CMU ranks third in the nation for number of Alternative Breaks trip taken, according to Break Away’s 2016-17 survey.
• Leadership Safari, a five-day leadership experience for new students, celebrated its 21st year in 2017. More than 2,100 students participate each year, led by nearly 300 student staff volunteers.
• CMU’s economic impact on Michigan was $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2016, and CMU accounted for the creation of nearly 12,000 jobs throughout the state, according to an Anderson Economic Group study.
• CMU is a state and national leader in the charter school movement, with 20 years of experience launching, supporting and overseeing charter public schools. CMU authorizes 57 schools educating more than 28,000 students in grades K-12.
• CMU provides financial aid and tailors student services to ensure success. In fiscal year 2017, CMU awarded approximately 10,000 students more than $72 million in university-funded financial aid, an increase of more than $18 million since 2012.
• CMU’s academic residence halls enhance learning and community in business, education and human services, health professions, science and engineering, music, honors, leadership, and public service.
• Fourteen new academic, athletic and residential buildings have been built on CMU’s campus in the past 16 years, including the Biosciences Building, which opened September 2016, and the Center for Integrated Health Sciences, which is under construction.
• CMU is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a doctoral research university and currently provides more than 70 graduate programs at the master’s, specialist and doctoral levels. CMU also provides 10 accelerated master’s degree programs, which allow undergraduate students at CMU to reduce the total number of credits required to complete their undergraduate and graduate degrees by applying up to 12 credit hours at the 500-600 level toward graduation requirements of both degree programs.

Cutting-edge Student Research

Students have conducted cutting-edge research in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, helped in the creation of biofuels and longer-lasting batteries, and developed improved methods of water purification. In addition, with the university’s second $10 million Environmental Protection Agency grant in six years, CMU researchers lead the way in efforts to protect and restore coastal wetlands vital to the overall health of the Great Lakes through CMU’s Institute for Great Lakes Research. CMU also was the first public university in the Midwest with a MakerBot Innovation Center, a large-scale 3-D printing installation, and CMU’s Biosciences Building is home to an electron microscope facility used for research in a variety of areas throughout the university.

Culture, Community, Resources

CMU is located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, a classic college town at the heart of central lower Michigan. Mount Pleasant is the seat of Isabella County and home to 26,000 of the county’s more than 70,000 people and growing. Mount Pleasant offers a blend of natural features, family attractions and small-town life complemented by university culture. Friends, family members, siblings and visitors are always welcome to explore CMU’s park-like campus and attend plays, concerts, speeches, athletic events, library exhibits, summer camps and much more. Features include:

Culture and Entertainment. University Theatre, University Events, the School of Music and the student-run Program Board offer year-round world-class plays, entertainment and other exciting activities. With more than 94,000 square feet of space, the John G. Kulhavi Events Center serves the cultural and entertainment needs of the campus and community, hosting a wide variety of events, from commencements to concerts to speaking engagements to business expos.

Athletics. CMU competes in 18 men’s and women’s sports. CMU’s NCAA Division I student-athletes are accomplished on the field and in the classroom. CMU has won more than 80 MAC championships in 16 different sports, and the football program has participated in a postseason bowl game in nine of the past 11 years. The CMU Chippewas won the league’s top award, the Cartwright Award for overall excellence, in 2009 and 2015, and CMU also earned its third consecutive MAC Institutional Sportsmanship award in 2017. CMU’s student-athletes have averaged a GPA of 3.0 or higher for 38 consecutive semesters.

Charles V. Park Library. Central Michigan University library houses more than one million print volumes on 33 miles’ worth of electronically movable shelving, but it doesn’t take a personal visit to access these resources. The Clarke Historical Library, located along the main corridor of the library, regularly displays items from its extensive historical holdings.

Tours of campus are available weekdays and many Saturdays and are arranged through the Admissions Office. Call 989-774-3076 or 888-292-5366.