Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan · Founded 1855
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Test-optional
Michigan State does not require the SAT or ACT for admission or merit scholarships; you choose on the application whether a score is considered, and MSU uses your highest total SAT or composite ACT without combining subscores from different sittings. For the class that entered in fall 2025, 51.5% of enrolled first-year students submitted an SAT score and 6.8% an ACT, so the ACT range describes a small group. In its Common Data Set academic GPA is rated Very Important and test scores Considered. Transfer applicants do not need scores, and international applicants can use SAT or ACT scores to meet the English requirement. Source: admissions.msu.edu - ACT/SAT optional and First-year admission criteria; Michigan State University Common Data Set 2025-2026, sections C7-C9 (verified October 2026).
About
A public research-intensive, land-grant university and a member of the Association of American Universities, with about 41,000 undergraduates among nearly 52,000 students in East Lansing. It offers more than 400 areas of study, and three residential colleges, among them James Madison College and Lyman Briggs College, pair small-college living with the resources of a large research university. Business is its largest field, closely followed by the sciences.
History
Michigan State was established in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, and by 1959 it had become Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science. Its land-grant research tradition runs from the cross-fertilization of corn in the 1870s to anticancer drugs in the 1960s.
What stands out
- Test scores are optional for admission and merit scholarships, and you choose on the application whether yours is considered
- Applying by the November 1 early action deadline brings a decision by January 15 and the fullest scholarship consideration
- Nearly all first-year students live on campus, and a second-year on-campus requirement was recently reinstated
- More than 300 education abroad programs, with close to 2,500 students studying abroad each year
Popular majors
Campus life
Students cheer for the Spartans in the Big Ten Conference, and the mascot, Sparty, has won three national championships of his own. MSU counts more than 1,000 student organizations and more than 60 fraternities and sororities.