Louisiana State University has over 30,000 students on six campuses around the state. In addition to the flagship campus in Baton Rouge, LSU has campuses in Shreveport, New Orleans, Eunice and Alexandria. The LSU system offers over 180 degrees, both undergraduate and graduate, in the arts and sciences. The university, founded in 1860, strives to provide the community with programs based on instruction, research and public service and its success in serving the community is evident, as over 70 percent of students attending LSU are Louisiana residents.
The University of Louisiana System encompasses eight state university scattered throughout Louisiana. More than 80,000 students attend the universities and University of Louisiana at Lafayette is the largest in the system. The four-year university has 10 colleges and schools, and over 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The university also has a smaller campus in Monroe, LA. Grambling State University, Northwestern State University, Louisiana Tech University, McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, and Southeastern Louisiana University round out the rest of the U of L System. The student population of the U of L System is almost entirely composed of Louisiana residents, with over 90 percent in-state students.
Southern University is a historically black university system with schools in three cities in Louisiana. The university's main campus in Baton Rouge is its largest, with just a little over 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Other universities in the system include Southern University of New Orleans and the two-year associate programs at Southern University at Shreveport. The Law Center and Agricultural Research and Extension Center are both in Baton Rouge. Though the Universities are historically black and the student population is over 97 percent African-American, students of all backgrounds are welcome to attend.
A number of private universities in the state of Louisiana include Tulane University, Dillard University, Louisiana College, Loyola University New Orleans, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Our Lady of the Lake College, Xavier University of Louisiana. The most-known and highest-ranked is Tulane University, located in New Orleans. Tulane is ranked 51 of National Universities by US News and World Report and its School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine is one-of-a-kind in the United States. The school is sought after by students from all over the country, and its out-of-state student population is 87 percent.