Joni K. Ernst

Columbus State University is a public institution of higher learning located in Columbus, Georgia. Founded as Columbus College in 1958, the university was established and is administered by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and is fully accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university was first called Columbus College when it opened as a junior college in a hosiery mill in 1958. The college was staffed by fifteen faculty and staff and almost three hundred students attended courses in the first year. Columbus College relocated to the midtown area in 1963, building a campus defined by modern architecture on what was previously a dairy farm. The school was granted four-year status in 1965 with offerings of bachelor's and master's degrees. The first four-year class graduated in 1970. In 1996 the school was renamed Columbus State University as part of a program to restructure four-year institutions within the state's university system. The school now offers undergraduate and graduate programs in more than ninety academic disciplines. As of the 2010 academic year, the university enrolled more than 8,200 students. In early 2007, the art and theatre departments moved to the university's newly built RiverPark Campus in downtown Columbus. The complex was designed to provide students of the fine arts with a tightly-knit living community and larger studios, laboratories, and galleries. The Schwob School of Music is housed in the adjacent RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.

Iowa State is an international university with a friendly welcoming personality. Students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries come to Ames, Iowa, to choose from 100 majors, study with world-class scholars and hone their leadership skills in 800-plus student organizations. Iowa State offers a great environment where students can enjoy reaching their potential and discovering their passions.