, or simply '''Louisiana State University''' ('''LSU''') is a
Public ,
Coeducational University located in
Baton Rouge ,
Louisiana and the main campus of the
Louisiana State University System . LSU includes 9 senior colleges and 3 schools, in addition to specialized centers, divisions, institutes, and offices. Enrollment, which has increased approximately 5% recently to host students from New Orleans displaced by
Hurricane Katrina , stands at more than 30,000 students, and there are 1,300 full-time faculty members. LSU is one of only six American universities designated as a
Land-grant ,
Sea-grant and
Space-grant research center.
The LSU main campus occupies a 650-acre (2.6 km²) plateau on the banks of the
Mississippi River ; overall, LSU is located on 2,000 acres (8.1 km²) of land just south of downtown Baton Rouge. The campus boasts more than 250 principal buildings. Many of the buildings are built in the style of
Italian Renaissance architect
Andrea Palladio , and are marked by red pantile roofs, overhanging eaves, rolling arches, and honey-colored stucco.
Thomas Gaines 's ''The Campus as a Work of Art'' praises LSU's
Landscaping as "a botanical joy" in its listing among the 20 best campuses in
America . The
Live Oak trees on campus have been valued at $36 million. Through the LSU Foundation's "Endow an Oak" program, individuals or groups are able to endow live oaks across campus.
Other campuses in the LSU system include the LSU Agricultural Center, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU
Paul M. Hebert Law Center ,
University Of New Orleans ,
LSU Shreveport , LSU at Eunice, LSU Alexandria, and the LSU Health Sciences Centers: LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Health Care Services Division (Public Hospital System), and LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.
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Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College had its origin in certain land grants made by the United States government in 1806, 1811, and 1827 for use as a seminary of learning. In 1853, the Louisiana General Assembly established the Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana near
Pineville, Louisiana . The institution opened January 2, 1860, with Col.
William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent. The school closed June 30, 1861, because of the Civil War. It reopened on April 1, but was again closed on April 23, 1863, due to the invasion of the Red River Valley by the federal army. The losses sustained by the institution during the war were heavy.
The seminary reopened October 2, 1865, only to be burned October 15, 1869. On November 1, 1869, the institution resumed its exercises in Baton Rouge, where it has since remained. In 1870, the name of the institution was changed to Louisiana State University.
Louisiana State Agricultural & Mechanical College was established by an act of the legislature, approved April 7, 1874, to carry out the United States Morrill Act of 1862, granting lands for this purpose. It temporarily opened in New Orleans, June 1, 1874, where it remained until it merged with Louisiana State University in 1877.
The first Baton Rouge home of LSU was in the quarters of the Institute for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. In 1886, the federal garrison grounds (now the site of the state capitol) were formally declared the domicile of the University. Land for the present campus was purchased in 1918, construction started in 1922, and the move began in 1925; it was not, however, until 1932 that the move was finally completed. Formal dedication of the present campus took place on April 30, 1926.
After some years of enrollment fluctuation, student numbers began a steady increase, new programs were added, curricula and faculty expanded, and a true state university emerged.
In 1978, LSU was named a sea-grant college, the 13th university in the nation to be so designated and the highest classification attainable in the program.
In 1992, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved the creation of the LSU
Honors College .
