So, you're thinking about attending a college or university in Missouri?

Missouri is a border state, meaning it is between the Midwestern and Southern regions of the country and, thus, has cultural influences stemming from both of them. Being bordered by Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south, and Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska to the west, Missouri is one of only two states in the country that are physically connected to eight other states. This is the most states that any state in the United States has borders with.

The section of Missouri to the north of the Missouri River lies in the Northern Plains, which consists of gentle rolling hills. South of the river, the Ozark Plateau begins. This plateau runs down through Arkansas, southeast Kansas, and northeast Oklahoma and is where the Ozark Mountains can be found. In the southeastern part of the state, known as the Bootheel section, is made up of the lowest, flattest, wettest and, in terms of the population, poorest part of the state, though it is also the most fertile area in Missouri.

The climate of Missouri generally produces cool to cold winters and long, hot summers. The average mean temperature in the summer is around 75°F, though it isn't uncommon for temperatures to reach highs of over 100°F. The winters have a mean temperature of about 32°F.

Though the winter months in Missouri don't generally get much precipitation, it isn't uncommon for the state to receive 1-2 inches of snow each week from January to March. The spring, however, brings some very severe weather with its appearance. On average, the state experiences around 90 tornadoes every spring.

In 2006, Missouri had an estimated population of 5,842,713. About 194,000 of these, or 3.4% of the total population, were foreign-born. According to recent statistics, 6.6% of the state's residents were under the age of 5, 25.5% were under 18, and 13.5% were 65 or older. 81.3% of the population were high school graduates, which is actually higher than the national average.

Though neither major political party has been traditionally dominant in Missouri, since the late 1970s, the state has leaned toward the Republican Party. Missouri has had the longest stretch of supporting the winning presidential candidate than any other state in the nation. With the exception of the 1956 presidential election, it has chosen the winning candidate in every election since 1904.

More than three-fourths of the residents of Missouri, 77% total, identify themselves as Christian. 50% of these follow one of the various Protestant beliefs while 19% are Roman Catholic. The remaining percentage of the population either followed other religions, 2%, were non-religious, 15%, or refused to answer when asked about their religious practices, 6%.

The personal income tax of Missouri is divided into ten earning brackets. These range from 1.5% up to 6%. Missouri's sales tax is 4.225% for most items today, though local authorities are allowed to levy additional fees.

Several colleges and universities call Missouri home. Some of your options when looking for a school in this area are:

• Missouri State University

• The University of Missouri

• Missouri Tech

To find more information about universities and colleges in this area, visit the Online College Degrees page on this website.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Missouri".

Free College Planning Resources