Utah State University

Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal land-grant institution, Utah State serves as one of Utah's two flagship universities. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The Logan campus is the state's largest public residential campus, with more than 84% of students living away from home.
As of fall 2023, Utah State had 28,063 enrolled students, including 20,259 at its main Logan campus. The university has a presence statewide, with a total of 30 statewide campuses and more than 50 research institutes and centers. Among these research institutes is the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), which is the sole University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) for the Missile Defense Agency, and a UARC for the United States Department of Defense.
According to the National Science Foundation, Utah State was ranked 83rd nationally and 54th among public universities for total research and development revenue and expenditures, with $344.9 million in 2022. The university also hosts the second-oldest undergraduate research program in the United States.
Utah State's athletic teams, known as the Utah State Aggies, compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Mountain West Conference. Beginning July 1, 2026, the Aggies will compete in the Pac-12 Conference.
On December 16, 1861, Representative Justin Morrill (VT) introduced a bill into the U.S. House of Representatives "to establish at least one college in each state upon a sure and perpetual foundation, accessible to all, but especially to the sons of toil..." President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act into law in July 1862.
Meanwhile, after visiting a few rural agricultural schools in his native Denmark, Anthon H. Lund of the Utah Territorial Legislature decided that there existed in the Utah Territory a need for such a school fusing the highest in scientific and academic research with agriculture, the way of life for the vast majority of locals. Upon returning to the United States, Lund heard about the Morrill Act and pitched a vision for the college that would receive widespread support among members of the Territorial Legislature, seeking to reapply for statehood. Now, there came the question of location. According to historian Joel Ricks, "Provo had received the Insane Asylum, Salt Lake City had the University and Capitol, and most of the legislature felt that the new institutions should be given to Weber and Cache Counties." Citizens in Logan, Cache County, banded together and successfully lobbied representatives for the honor. The bill to establish the Agricultural College of Utah was passed on March 8, 1888, and on September 2, 1890, 14-year-old Miss Vendla Berntson enrolled as its first student.
Utah State's original charter focused on military science, technology, science, agriculture, and mechanical arts. In its early years, the college narrowly dodged two major campaigns to consolidate its operations with the University of Utah. Much controversy arose in response to President William J. Kerr's expansion of the college's scope beyond its agricultural roots. Detractors in Salt Lake City feared that such an expansion would come at the University of Utah's expense and pushed consolidation as a counter.
In 1907, an agreement was struck to strictly limit the Agricultural College's curricula to agriculture, domestic science, and mechanic arts. This meant closing all departments in Logan, including the music department, which did not fall under that umbrella. Consequently, the University of Utah became solely responsible, for a time, for courses in engineering, law, medicine, fine arts, and pedagogy, despite the Agricultural College's initial charter in 1888, which mandated that it offer instruction in such things. The Utah State legislature lifted the bulk of the curricular restrictions during the next two decades, with all restrictions on Utah State's academic growth being officially abolished in the 1990s.
The Agricultural College grew modestly amid the tumult, adding its statewide Extension program in 1914. A year later, it granted its first master's degrees. UAC, as the Utah Agricultural College was commonly abbreviated, also received a boost in students due to World War I. Colleges and universities nationwide were temporarily transformed into training grounds for the short-lived Student Army Training Corps, composed of students who received military instruction and could return to their educations following their military service. As the then-tiny campus could not otherwise support such large numbers of new students, college president Elmer Peterson convinced the state in 1918 to appropriate funds for permanent brick buildings, which could be used as living space for SATC students during the war, and instruction afterward. After World War I, the Military Science program continued to grow. By 1947, Utah State's military science program had earned recognition for its officer training efforts. During this time, the university commissioned many officers into the U.S. military, reportedly surpassed only by the United States Military Academy at West Point. This achievement has led to comparisons with other universities, including Oregon State University, which also refers to itself as the "West Point of the West" for its ROTC program's officer commissioning during World War II. Both institutions contributed notably to U.S. military training in the mid-20th century.
The 1920s and 1930s saw the genesis of significant growth. Utah State added its School of Education in 1928, a prelude to the institution renamed Utah State Agricultural College in 1929. In 1957, the school was granted university status as Utah State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, but the short name Utah State University is used even in official documents.
At the beginning of World War II, Utah State was one of six colleges selected by the United States Navy to give a Primary School in the highly unusual Electronics Training Program (ETP). Starting March 23, 1942, and each month after, a new group of 100 Navy students arrived for three months of 14-hour days in concentrated electrical engineering study. Smart Gymnasium was converted to a dormitory, and Old Main was fitted for classrooms and laboratories. Larry S. Cole was named program director, and Waldo G. Hobson was the director of instruction. ETP admission required passing the Eddy Test, one of the most selective qualifying exams given during the war years. At a given time, some 300 Navy students were on the campus, augmenting the war years regular enrollment of 1,000. Sidney R. Stock had developed the Radio and Aviation Department earlier and entered the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander to assist in organizing electronics training. He was a member of the committee in Washington that planned the ETP and shortly returned to Utah State as the Officer-in-Charge. The ETP Primary School continued at Utah State until August 1944, graduating about 2,750 students in 30 classes.
During the late 1970s, controversy again erupted on campus surrounding the school's historically sizeable Iranian population. As U.S. relations with Iran began to deteriorate throughout the decade, Iranian students on campus began staging protests against the Shah, which demonstrations met with some backlash in the community. Following the outbreak of the hostage crisis of 1979, immigration officials arrived on campus to interview each Iranian, an event that alienated many international and domestic students. For a time, the population of Middle Eastern students declined sharply and has only recently begun to rise again.
By the late 20th century, Utah State University aimed to expand its scope beyond being primarily recognized as a regional institution and sought to develop a broader national presence. Under the leadership of President George Emert, who served from 1992 to 2000, the university's endowment grew from $7 million to $80 million.
Utah State forged collaborations with several foreign institutions and governments, especially under former president Stan Albrecht. The Merrill-Cazier Library opened in 2005, and other facilities have followed. In 2010, USU acquired both the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter outside Park City and the former College of Eastern Utah, with its two campuses and various undergraduate and vocational programs. In 2012, the university successfully concluded a $400 million fundraising campaign, the largest ever at USU.
The Utah State University operates a system of campuses throughout Utah, with Utah State extension offices in all 29 of Utah's counties.
Utah State also owns or manages operates within the following agricultural, equestrian, botanical, and ecological centers: the Bastian Agricultural Center (South Jordan), the USU Botanical Center (Kaysville), the Ogden Botanical Gardens (Ogden), Thanksgiving Point (Lehi), the Sam Skaggs Family Equine Education Center (Wellsville), and the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter (Park City).
The earliest roots of USU's distance education go back to 1904 when USU professors traveled by train from Logan to Burley, Idaho to deliver dairy lectures. In the 1950s, professors regularly drove around the state to teach courses and advise students. The first Statewide Campus, Uintah Basin, was designated by the Utah State Legislature in 1967. The following year, "flying professors" traveled weekly to teach at USU's various campuses and centers. Traveling from the centers was necessary until Utah State installed satellite systems in 1996. In 2005, University President Stan Albrecht moved Utah State University's Continuing Education unit to the Provost's Office and established the USU Regional Campuses and Distance Education organization. The system grew in 2010 with the addition of USU Eastern to nearly one-half of USU's enrollment. Today, the USU system includes USU Blanding, USU Eastern and 28 additional statewide campuses. In 2012, RCDE completed construction of the Regional Campuses Distance Education (RCDE) Building which houses broadcast classrooms, RCDE offices, and the Utah Education Network.
Utah State University has conducted studies and proposed long-term development master plans to the state of Utah, which have been approved in concept to create residential and research campuses at each of its additional campuses throughout the State.
Located in Price, Utah, the former College of Eastern Utah joined the USU system in 2010 and became Utah State University College of Eastern Utah (USU Eastern). In 2013, the official name was shortened to Utah State University Eastern. USU Eastern operates a satellite campus, known as the Blanding campus, in Blanding, Utah. Before the acquisition, USU taught courses at the Blanding Education Center on the College of Eastern Utah Campus through Regional Campuses and Distance Education (RCDE). USU Eastern is a junior college and offers associate degrees, certificates, and vocational programs. Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral courses, however, are available on-site through RCDE. USU Eastern competes as the Eastern Utah Golden Eagles and is the only campus besides Logan with an athletics program.
Regional Campuses and Distance Education (RCDE) work to fulfill USU's land-grant mission to increase access to high-quality education throughout Utah.
Logan is one of many cities and towns hosting a statewide campus for the university. Statewide campuses are located in Beaver, Bicknell, Blanding, Brigham City, Castle Dale, Cedar City, Delta, Ephraim, Heber City, Junction, Kanab, Kaysville, Logan, Moab, Montezuma Creek, Monticello, Monument Valley, Nephi, Orem, Panguitch, Park City, Price, Richfield, Roosevelt, Salt Lake City, St. George, Tooele, Tremonton, Vernal, and Wendover. Students may receive a wide selection of degrees at each location without visiting the Logan campus. Courses and degrees are also made available online through Distance Education.
The USU-Moab campus opened on April 1, 2022. The City of Moab committed up to $75,000 per year, from 2012 to 2021, to promote the development of the campus. Degrees specific to the community's needs, including social work and recreation resource management, were planned and now provided on the new campus. Since its opening, USU has had a growing presence in Moab, showing a 15.8% growth in enrollment from 2022 to 2023.
Started in 1914, Utah State University Cooperative Extension, referred to simply as Extension, provides research-based, unbiased information to communities through their county offices and is an integral part of a land-grant institution. Extension operates 30 offices throughout the state, which include the Bastian Agricultural Center (South Jordan), the Ogden Botanical Gardens (Ogden), Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter, Thanksgiving Point (Lehi), and the Utah Botanical Center (Kaysville) With a focus on teaching, research, and public service, Extension programs include 4-H, agribusiness, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education, gardening and yard care, personal finance, and animal health.
Utah State University's main academic, research, residential, and innovation campus is located in Logan, Utah, spanning 600 acres at the mouth of Logan Canyon. The campus sits on a "bench," a shelf-like foothill overlooking Cache Valley to the west, with Mount Logan and the Bear River Range rising sharply to the east.
The campus is home to more than 100 buildings. Key facilities include Maverik Stadium, the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, Old Main (the university's first building), the Merrill-Cazier Library (305,000 square feet), and the Manon Caine Russell-Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall.
The Logan City Cemetery divides much of the campus, with the main academic buildings to the south and the innovation and research facilities to the north. The campus also includes residential, recreational, and athletic buildings. To the west and north are located the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum and Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium.
USU owns over 1,000 acres in Cache County for future development and research, including agricultural centers, research farms, and the Innovation and Research Campus. Scientific and agricultural research facilities are located north and south of Cache Valley and throughout Utah.
Students have full access to the HPER (pronounced "hyper"), Nelson Fieldhouse, and the 117,000-sq-ft ARC (Aggie Recreation Center) exercise facilities, which include basketball courts, indoor rock climbing, gymnastics equipment, two swimming pools, racquetball, squash, and outdoor field space for lacrosse, rugby, soccer, ultimate, and other sports.
With more than 30 of Utah's largest tree species and more than 7,000 trees, Utah State's Logan campus has earned international recognition as an arboretum, accredited by ArbNet.
USU's main campus in Logan, Utah, and the city of Logan have received several accolades, including being named the "Best College Town" for the 2019-2020 school year and "Most Beautiful Campus in Utah." The campus benefits from its proximity to several outdoor recreational destinations and local amenities that offer students a wide variety of activities.
Directly adjacent to the campus are Logan Canyon and the Cache National Forest, which provide opportunities for hiking, camping, and skiing. Logan Canyon also serves as the main route to Beaver Mountain Ski Resort and Bear Lake, both of which are popular among students for winter sports and summer activities. Students often visit these nearby areas for recreational activities such as kayaking, paddleboarding, fishing, and skiing. The USU Outdoor Recreation Program supports these activities by renting equipment for camping, water sports, mountain sports, and winter sports, as well as providing trail maps and local expertise.
Several notable sites are situated near or within campus property. First Dam, a small research reservoir located at the mouth of Logan Canyon, is a popular spot for paddleboarding, kayaking, and fishing. The Logan Country Club, adjacent to the campus, is home to the university's men's golf team. Additionally, the Utah Water Research Laboratory is a key research facility near Logan Canyon.
In the broader region, students have access to other ski resorts, such as Powder Mountain and Cherry Peak Report, as well as local golf courses, lakes, and reservoirs, including Hyrum Reservoir at Hyrum State Park. Many students take advantage of Utah's YETI ski pass, which allows limited access to all of Utah's ski resorts. Weekend getaways to Yellowstone National Park, Teton National Park, and Lava Hot Springs are also popular due to their proximity to Logan.
Utah State University is Utah's oldest and largest public residential campus. About 84% of Aggies live away from home.
Twenty-one widely varying on-campus buildings house single students, and 39 buildings on the north side of campus are available for married housing. Many more students live in the multitude of off-campus housing options nearby. Students on campus may dine in one of two cafeterias and the Forum Cafe at Merrill-Cazier Library, which offers paninis, soups, beverages, and more. There is also a full-service Skyroom restaurant and the Hub, which includes several dining options. On the east edge of campus sits Aggie Ice Cream, a popular local destination that has been producing ice cream, cheese products, sandwiches, and soups since 1888.
Starting in Old Main, USU has had a creamery since its founding in 1888. Students studying dairying and domestic arts applied to learn how to make both ice cream and cheeses. In 1921, Gustav Wilster began working with the College of Agriculture. By 1922, students studied dairy technology, fluid milk processing, ice cream manufacture, dairy engineering, cheese manufacture, butter making, dairy facility inspection, and dairy product judging. Wilster's students would go on to create Casper's Ice Cream, Farr's Ice Cream, and Snelgrove's Ice Cream. In 1975, the Nutrition and Food Sciences building was built, where Aggie Ice Cream is housed today, with a second location operating in USU's Blue Square student housing, which opened in 2023.
Along with Aggie Ice Cream, USU owns and operates its chocolate factory, The Aggie Chocolate Factory, through the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. The Aggie Chocolate Factory has shops on both the academic and residential campuses in Logan and the athletic stadiums. During the winter, the Aggie Chocolate Factory will also sell its own-made hot cocoa; during hot days, they will sell "Frozen As"—a "tongue-in-cheek" iced cocoa drink popular with students and fans.
USU students are also involved in more than 200 clubs, an active and influential student government, seven fraternities and three sororities, multiple intramural and club sports, and a student-run radio station.
Well-known student traditions include the rite of passage of becoming a True Aggie, which requires a student to kiss someone who is already a True Aggie on top of the Block "A." Two students may also become True Aggies together on Homecoming night or A-Day. In 2011, USU broke the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most couples kissing at the same place at the same time. Nearby the Block "A" is the lighted "A" atop the Old Main tower, which shines white throughout the entire valley and blue on nights when a varsity sport has picked up a victory, or other special events have occurred on campus.
The Utah State University Student Association (USUSA) represents the university's student body. USUSA is composed of 17 elected student officers and five appointed student officers. These officers typically oversee a particular area of responsibility that is outlined in each officer's charter. The duties of USUSA officers can range from managing campus events and activities to promoting and advocating for particular initiatives at the Utah State Legislature. In February of each school year, students who wish to serve in the following year's USUSA begin launching campaigns for office. Campaigns last one week and consist of a primary and general election in which the top two vote-getters from the primary advance to the general election, and the candidate who receives a majority vote in the general election is announced as the winner.
The USUSA received significant attention during the 2016–2017 school year when the organization declared a mental health crisis at Utah State University. The legislation (written by USUSA Student Body President Ashley Waddoups, USUSA Student Advocate Vice President Matthew Clewett, and USUSA Graduate Studies Senator Ty Aller) sought to raise awareness of significant wait times for students to utilize CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) at Utah State as well as the increasing number of students who were suffering from mental health-related illnesses. After a successful lobbying campaign, the USUSA was able to influence the Utah State Legislature to pass a resolution declaring a mental health crisis at all Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) institutions. The resolution was subsequently signed by Utah Governor Gary Herbert in March 2017.
In 1970, Utah State student Sue Brown and Director of Student Activities Val R. Christensen created one of the first service organizations in the nation. VOICE, Volunteer Organization for Involvement in the Community and Environment, worked to improve the environment and social issues in Cache Valley. VOICE became The Val R. Christensen Service Center in 1999 in honor of Dr. Christensen's efforts and support of the organization. Today, students are involved in more than 20 service organizations including Aggie Special Olympics, Aggies for Africa, Alternative Breaks, and Senior University.
Given USU's history and traditions as a land-grant school with an original charter for, in part, military sciences, Utah State supports a robust ROTC program for the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Air Force. ROTC members wear uniforms or field attire as the color guard at home athletic events. Members of the ROTC are also present on the field and in the stadium at every home football game. Wearing field attire, members of the ROTC perform pushups and fire a 75mm howitzer cannon at the initial kickoff and each time after the Aggies score points. ROTC members also fire the cannon at the end of the game after every home team victory. Utah State ROTC cadet activity and presence both on and off the field is especially present at events surrounding Veteran's Day and during athletic events when the Aggies compete against fellow Mountain West Conference rivals, the U.S. Air Force Academy Falcons. During certain home and away games, USU's mascot, Big Blue, will also don military field attire. Utah State's ROTC cadets also participate in other opportunities and events both on and off campus, including at the annual USU homecoming parade in Logan.
USU's Big Blue mascot is visible at home, away games, and in greater Logan and Utah communities. Nowadays, Big Blue is almost always seen as an athletic and acrobatic member and leader of the Spirit Squad in costume attire that performs dance moves and athletic stunts to the delight of USU fans. Historically, Big Blue was a real-life white rodeo-trained bull dusted in animal-safe and animal-friendly blue color chalk. However, when the new Spectrum was built, concerns over the real-life bull scuffing up the basketball court gave rise to the student version of the mascot becoming the more visible and public avatar of Big Blue. Big Blue will most always perform dance and acrobatic feats with the Spirit Squad and in the stadiums at home athletic events. At home football games, the student version of Big Blue leads the Aggie Football team onto the field between twin pillars of fire. At the same time, he rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Around Veteran's Day. When the Aggies compete in athletic events against in-conference rivals, the Air Force Falcons and Big Blue will also wear military field attire during those games. Big Blue is seen somewhat as a local celebrity, especially in and around Logan, and the student version is often seen taking pictures and signing autographs with students, fans, and children in the community. It is considered an honor for a student to be named "Big Blue," and tryouts are held for the honor. Once chosen as Big Blue, the student chosen cannot divulge to the student body or the public he is Big Blue until he officially steps down from that role in a formal, and often emotional, "de-masking" ceremony.
Utah State has a history of various traditions, including its two fight songs ('Hail the Utah Aggies' and 'The Scotsman') and a range of chants, such as 'I Believe.' The Scotsman is particularly notorious given its history and the unified standing body and hand motions made in unison by the student body and fans as part of the song. Other traditions and events for students are sponsored by USU, the HURD, and the Student Association and held throughout the year and include Homecoming and "The Howl," the latter being the largest publicly-sponsored Halloween celebration in the state of Utah for USU students and their friends attending other schools. Other annual student events include the Luminary Processional, which welcomes new students each fall, and The End of Year Bash, a concert on campus that culminates at the end of the academic year each April.
In 1903, USU was divided into six schools: The School of Agriculture, the School of Military Science, the School of Agricultural Engineering and Mechanical Arts, the School of Home Economics, the School of General Science, and the School of Commerce. In 1923, the university expanded to seven academic colleges: Agriculture, Home Economics, Military Science, Agricultural Engineering, Commerce and Business Administration, Mechanic Arts, and General Science. In 1924, the institution added a School of Education, and restructured the School of General Science to include a School of Basic Arts and Sciences.
Today, USU is organized into ten academic colleges:
The tenth college, the College of Veterinary Medicine, was announced in the spring of 2022 and is Utah's first four-year veterinary school. Rather than continuing as a separate college, Utah State's military science and ROTC programs (including the Center for Anticipatory Intelligence) are currently housed in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences while Utah State's aviation, flight technology, and drone technology programs are currently housed in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. Utah State's aerospace programs are housed in the College of Engineering and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (including the Air Force and Army ROTC programs) and in collaboration with the Space Dynamics Laboratory.
Formerly existing as a non-degree-granting institution within the College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, the Caine College became a free-standing college on July 1, 2010. The Caine College of the Arts houses the departments of Art & Design, Music, and Theatre Arts, along with the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art. Performance facilities include the Daryl Chase Fine Arts Center, which houses the Kent Concert Hall among other venues, and the free-standing Manon Caine Russell-Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall, completed in 2006. The 400-seat Performance Hall, designed by the architectural firm Sasaki Associates, is recognized for its acoustic quality. It has been honored with an award from the Utah Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for its architectural design. The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and opened in 1982, contains one of the largest art collections in the Intermountain Region. Its holdings include nationally significant collections of ceramics, Native American art, and especially artworks produced in the American West since 1945.
USU's music program includes opera singer Michael Ballam and the Fry Street Quartet, USU's string quartet-in-residence.
The College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences was the first academic college at USU and is known for ground-breaking animal genetics and human nutrition and food science research, as well as other significant breakthroughs and global outreach in plants and soil science, animal science, veterinary science, and economics and applied agriculture. College researchers were instrumental in the creation of the first cloned equines (horses) in a project collaboration with researchers at the University of Idaho. The college is also a leader in the international project to classify and research the sheep genome. The College of Agriculture includes eight departments: Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences; Applied Economics; Applied Sciences, Technology, and Education; Aviation Technology; Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning; Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences; Plants, Soils, and Climate; and Technology, Design, and Technical Education.
The college was also home to Utah's first Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program, now its own college at Utah State. The program began as a regional program in collaboration with Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.
The College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences also houses Utah State's aviation, flight technology, and drone technology programs via its fleet of aircraft hangars at the nearby Logan Airport.
In 2013, the college's name was changed from the College of Agriculture to the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences to reflect the broad nature of the college.
The College of Engineering grants undergraduate degrees in six engineering disciplines: biological, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, and mechanical. It also grants graduate degrees in aerospace engineering, composite materials and structures engineering, space systems engineering, and engineering education. The College of Engineering has benefited from its close association with SDL, which provides part-time employment for some 130 students, many of whom fulfill technical engineering tasks.
Part of the College of Engineering, the Utah Water Research Laboratory is the oldest and largest facility of its kind in the nation. The lab heads and contributes to numerous international projects, particularly in arid Middle Eastern nations.
The College of Engineering also hosts several community outreach programs throughout the year. These include an annual trebuchet pumpkin toss and a chapter of Engineers without Borders.
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences teaches required core classes. The college houses ten departments and more than 30 programs. Departments include Aerospace Studies; Communication Studies and Philosophy; English; History; Journalism and Communication; Military Science; Political Science; Social Work; Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice; and World Languages and Cultures.
In the Humanities, USU has long history in the study of the American West. The university, through its departments of English and history, respectively, is the host institution for the scholarly journals Western American Literature, Western Historical Quarterly, the official publications of the Western Literature Association and the Western History Association, respectively. Additionally, the Department of Journalism and Communication broadcasts weekly the award-winning A-TV News.
The Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, a humanities outreach center at USU, sponsors public events and research focusing on the cultures and history of the Interior West and larger American West. University Special Collections and Archives, located at the Merrill-Cazier Library, has extensive archival holdings documenting the histories of Utah, the Intermountain West, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as one of the nation's largest collections pertaining to American folklore, and the lives and works of western authors such as Jack London and poet May Swenson, a Logan native and USU alumna.
The college also houses the USU Museum of Anthropology, currently located in Old Main.
USU's Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services was founded in 1924 and has around 5,700 students. In 2024-2025, the college was ranked #39 (tie) for "Best Education Schools" by U.S. News & World Report . The college is accredited by the American Psychological Association. Faculty are active in many of areas of research, including neuropsychology, child development, health psychology, behavior therapy, and quantitative psychology.
Department of Psychology professor Karl R. White is director of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management, which focuses on the early identification and intervention of hearing loss in infants and young children.
USU is the only university in Utah that offers a Housing and Financial Counseling program through the college's Family, Consumer, and Human Development Department. This program offers debt counseling, budget counseling, mortgage default prevention counseling, and reverse mortgage counseling through the USU Family Life Center, which also houses the Marriage & Family Therapy Clinic.
In 2007, Utah State's College of Business became the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business after a $26 million donation by philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr.
The Huntsman School of Business is the oldest continuously operating business college in the Western United States and the first business college in Utah. It offers several graduate and undergraduate degrees in fields such as management, accounting, economics, finance, and management information systems (MIS). The bachelor's degree in international business is the only program of its kind offered at USU within the state.
The Huntsman School of Business also houses the Shingo Institute, an outreach program that develops executive education to be licensed and taught to leaders of organizations worldwide. The Shingo Institute also administers the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence.
In 2011, the Utah Legislature approved funding for a new business building to be located south of the Eccles Business Building. The new building was funded by $36 million in private funds and $14 million in state funds. The 117,000-square-foot (10,900 m) building was completed in 2016 and includes classrooms, faculty offices, a business library, and three new business centers.
The college operates the Quinney Library, which houses collections relevant to natural resources education, management, and research. The college was formally renamed the S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources in 2012 after a $10 million donation was received by the S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney Foundation. The Quinneys were both graduates of USU (then the Agricultural College of Utah), and their foundation has supported the College of Natural Resources for 40 years, contributing more than $40 million in all.
As of fall 2024, there were 28,900 students enrolled, of whom 25,702 were undergraduate students and 3,198 were graduate students. The university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Utah State has over 270-degree offerings, including 137 undergraduate degrees, 95 master's degrees, and 39 doctoral degrees. Utah State has a 19 to 1 student-to-faculty ratio, and 49 percent of its classes have fewer than 20 students. USU offers more than 1,000 study abroad opportunities in 90 countries.
According to Business Insider in 2015, USU was the 25th "Most Underrated College" in the United States.
In fall 2022, Utah State received 16,069 applications for first-time freshman enrollment, from which 15,061 applications were accepted (93.7%) and 4,625 freshmen enrolled, a yield rate of 30.7%. The freshman retention rate is 74.5%, with 52.5% graduating within six years.
In 2021, Utah State was ranked as a national leader for its undergraduate research programs by the Council for Undergraduate Research.
Most recently, in 2024, Washington Monthly ranked Utah State 54th among 438 national universities in the U.S. and also the 8th best public university in the nation based on Utah State's contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.
In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked USU 32nd in the nation for "Best Online Bachelor's Programs" out of over 360 reviewed. Forbes ranked the university No. 140 in Public Colleges, No. 177 in Research Universities, and No. 74 among colleges in the West in 2023.
Utah State University is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". USU was 83rd in the nation for total research and development expenditures with $344.9 million in 2022.
Utah State has more than 50 research institutes and centers. Notable research centers based at USU include the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Bingham Energy Research Center, Center for Integrated Biosystems, Center for Growth and Opportunity, Center for Anticipatory Intelligence, Energy Dynamics Laboratory, The Stephen R. Covey Leadership Center, Utah Water Research Laboratory, Center for High Performance Computing, Ecology Center, Utah Climate Center, Center for Advanced Nutrition, Thanksgiving Point, Center for the School of the Future, National Aquatic Monitoring Center, Ogden Botanical Center, Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter, Intermountain Center for River Rehabilitation and Restoration, Bastian Agricultural Center (South Jordan), Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management, The Shingo Institute, Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land Water and Air, and Utah Botanical Center.
As of 2010, Utah State University has placed more student experiments into space than any educational institution worldwide.
In 2024, Utah State became a member of the U.S. Space Command Academic Engagement Enterprise.
Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), a contractor owned by Utah State, is one of 15 University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) of the United States Department of Defense and is the UARC for the Missile Defense Agency. As of 2018, SDL has conducted more than 430 successful space missions and deployed more than 500 hardware and software systems.
Some of SDL's projects include:
In 2021, Utah State received a $1 billion contract for aerospace research, including "space and nuclear advanced prototypes, experiments and technology," from the Air Force Research Laboratory, which is the largest contract ever awarded by the AFRL.
In partnership with SDL, Utah State has placed more experiments into space than any institution of higher learning in the world.
GASPACS (Get Away Special Passive Attitude Control Satellite) was a NASA sponsored 1U CubeSat developed entirely by undergraduate members of Utah State University's Get Away Special (GAS) team. The primary mission objective of GASPACS was to deploy a 1-meter inflatable aerodynamic boom to passively stabilize its attitude. GASPACS was the world's first CubeSat to be developed entirely by undergraduate students, and was also the world's first CubeSat to utilize a Raspberry Pi Zero as its flight computer.
Along with the University of Utah, Utah State is an anchor in the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) program, which is aimed at optimizing the region's most marketable strengths to bolster Utah's high-tech economy. Eight USTAR teams currently perform research at Utah State as follows:
USU's undergraduate research program was founded in 1975, making it the second program of its kind in the nation (after MIT). In 2021, it was named the "Best Undergraduate Research Program in the Nation" by the Council on Undergraduate Research.
Since 2022, Utah State has been home to the only college of veterinary medicine operating in Utah.
A team of USU and University of Idaho researchers were the first in the world to successfully clone an equine. The baby mule, named Idaho Gem, was born May 4, 2003.
USU researchers made headlines in 2011 after breeding transgenic goats. Utah State University professor Randy Lewis' "spider goats," the milk of which contains spider silk, are being studied for uses including human muscle tissue and light-weight bulletproof vests.
Utah State owns and operates 14 separate research farms as well as several equestrian, agricultural, ecological, and botanical centers located throughout the state.
In 2010, Utah State received ownership of the more than $30 million Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter outside of Park City. The center consists of a 1,200-acre (4.9 km) land trust and a 10,000-square-foot (930 m), state-of-the-art facility dedicated to environmental education. The preserve protects critical wetland and foothill terrain in the heart of one of the state's fastest-growing areas, and the EcoCenter, completed in 2009, is a multi-use facility with space for educational and community activities. The facility is LEED Platinum Certified, the highest standard for design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.
Utah State University promotes the OpenCourseWare (OCW) Project (open and free university courses) and is developing an open content management system for OCW called eduCommons. This open source content management system is one of the important technology projects in the MIT OpenCourseWare Initiative. eduCommons aids in creating OCW sites and has already been adopted by several universities for this purpose.
Utah State University supports organized athletics within the varsity intercollegiate, club intercollegiate, and intramural categories. Since its founding in 1888, USU's varsity and club sports and its players have won six individual national championships.
USU has 16 formal varsity sports teams recognized through Aggie Athletics. They are known as the Utah State Aggies and are a part of the NCAA Division I Mountain West Conference (MWC), which they joined in the summer of 2013. The university's varsity teams have won 37 conference championships including three national championships (i.e., once in Women's Volleyball and twice in Softball). Golfer Jay Don Blake won the 1980 NCAA Championship and was named NCAA Player of the Year in 1981. Utah State University's 90 All-American athletes have been named All-American 134 times. Utah State Aggies has 16 NCAA Division I teams, including:
The men's basketball team plays in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, which has been named among the nation's "15 Toughest Places To Play In College Basketball." ESPN has also named USU's student section, The HURD, among the smartest in the nation. During the 2008–09 season, USU's ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll rose as high as #17. USU basketball was 193–13 (.937) at home during the Stew Morrill era, having received 6 NCAA Tournament berths in between 2000 and 2010, and amassed more wins than any team in the nation except Duke, Kansas, and Gonzaga during that time. Utah State captured the Mountain West regular season title in 2018-19 and back-to-back tournament titles during the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons. Utah State's men's basketball team has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in the three of the last five seasons, (2021, 2023, 2024).
USU's football team is one of 133 schools in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. After years of challenges in football, USU improved under head coach Gary Andersen, completing the 2012 regular season with its first 10-win season, its first Western Athletic Conference championship in football, and rankings in all three major national polls.
In addition to Andersen's hiring, the football program's renaissance could be attributed in part to an emphasis, under Athletics Director Scott Barnes, on recruiting, TV coverage, fundraising, facilities upgrades, and internal reorganization, despite the athletics department's dismal budget in comparison with other state and WAC schools. In recognition of these efforts, USU Athletics was crowned with the 2009 National Champion of the Excellence in Management Cup, which seeks to identify the university that wins the most championships with the lowest expenses Matt Wells was named head coach of USU's football team before the 2013–2014 season. In December 2020, Utah State University vice president and director of athletics John Hartwell announced Blake Anderson as the Aggies' 29th head football coach. Black Anderson led Utah State's football team for three seasons, and was replaced by interim head coach Nate Dreiling for its 2024 season. Bronco Mendenhall was named Utah State's head football coach for the 2025 season in December 2024.
The Aggies were members of the WAC between 2005 and 2012, and the men's teams won several conference championships in that time, including football in 2012, basketball in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, indoor track in 2008, 2010, 2011, outdoor track in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011, cross country in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011. Women's teams also won WAC championships, including volleyball in 2012, soccer in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012, cross country in 2006 and 2008, outdoor track in 2012, and indoor track in 2012. Utah State has won numerous conference championships in previous conferences. National championships include women's volleyball in 1978 and softball in 1980 and 1981.
As members of the Mountain West Conference, the Aggies have claimed a division title in football and played in the inaugural Mountain West Championship Game in 2013. The men's tennis team won the regular season Mountain West Conference championship in 2016. The men's tennis team won both the Mountain West Conference regular season and tournament championships in 2017, and the tournament championship in 2018, and the regular season championship in 2024 The men's cross country team captured the MW title in 2019 and the volleyball team won the MW regular-season crown in 2021. Utah State's men's basketball team won the MWC conference championship during the 2019-2020 season.
Utah State University's clubs (which also compete through Aggie Athletics and are known as the Aggies) have seen national success, winning fifteen national titles. USU's baseball club has won two national championships, first in 2012 and then again in 2014. The rodeo club has two individual national champions, Garrett Thurston and Trevor Merrill. The handball club has claimed nine national titles among its roster members. And the USU Cycling Club has two individual national championships.
Utah State's Logan Campus is the largest residential public campus in the state and, as such, there exists officially through Aggie Athletics an array of competitive club sports which students can try out, participate, and compete in, including:
Intramural sports are offered to students, faculty, and staff in connection with Aggie Recreation and various on- and off-campus resources and facilities.
Journals published by the university include Utah Science, Western Historical Quarterly, and Western American Literature. The Utah State University Press publishes works in composition studies, folklore, Mormon history, Native American studies, nature and environment, and western history.
The Utah Statesman, or simply The Statesman, is the primary news outlet serving the Utah State student body. The Statesman is a student-run paper with a faculty adviser. The paper is funded partly by a student fee of $2 per semester and partly by the sale of advertisements. The Statesman is published once a week and distributed free of charge to on-campus locations and off-campus in Downtown Logan. The Statesman won the Society for Professional Journalists's Best Column Writing award in 2002 and the Best Non-Daily Student Paper in 2005.
Aggie Radio 92.3 KBLU-LP, an entirely student-run radio station, broadcasts to Cache Valley and online. Aggie Radio is the home of local, alternative, and independent music for USU students and the Cache Valley Community. Programming can be found online via RadioFX, with many of its podcasts available through major distributors. Aggie Radio is an affiliate of Learfield IMG College and broadcasts all of the Utah State University Football and Women's and Men's Basketball games throughout the season.
Utah Public Radio, a service of Utah State University, broadcasts news, information, public affairs, and cultural programming. It operates 24/7, reaching audiences across Utah and Southern Idaho through a network of six stations and 30 translators. UPR began in 1953 as KVSC, later changing to KUSU-FM in 1961. It is affiliated with National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and American Public Media, offering a variety of news and music programming.
Aggie TV is a cable service lineup of approximately 110 channels offered free to all on-campus residents. Aggie TV produces Crossroads, a bulletin/announcement channel, and Aggie Advantage, providing local and student video programming.
USU is associated with seven Rhodes Scholars, one Nobel Prize winner, one MacArthur Fellows Program inductee, four recipients of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, various astronauts (including astronaut Mary L. Cleave), thirty-four recipients of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, various political and congressional leaders (both domestic and foreign), members of the judiciary and heads of state of various U.S. states (including the current governor of Utah, Spencer Cox), ambassadors, and even heads of foreign governments (including Hesham Qandil, former Prime Minister of Egypt). Utah State alumni also include various musical, theatrical, literary and film artists, professional athletes and coaches, and current and past leaders (i.e., CEOs, presidents, board members, and other leaders) of various public and private companies, both for-profit and non-profit, having a global presence. Notably, these have also included presidents, apostles, and global ecclesiastical leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—including Ezra Taft Benson, former Secretary of Agriculture for the United States of America and, later, both Apostle and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On June 13, 1899, graduates of the Agricultural College of Utah met to create the Alumni Association. Today, the Alumni Association is located in the historic David B. Haight Alumni Center, which was dedicated on July 11, 1991. Alumni chapters exist in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Washington, D.C. USU's 149,000 alumni live in all U.S. states and more than 110 countries.
Particularly notable alumni include Harry Reid, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader; Lars Peter Hansen, one of the three Americans to win the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences; May Swenson, poet; Merlin Olsen, pro football hall-of-famer, actor, and TV personality; Ardeshir Zahedi, former Iranian Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the U.S. under the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Shah; LaDonna Antoine-Watkins 1996 and 2000 Olympic sprinter; Chris Cooley, pro-football tight-end who played for the Washington Redskins (2004–2012); the late Mary L. Cleave, NASA astronaut, Bobby Wagner, an NFL linebacker who has played for the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, and Washington Commanders; South Korean film and television actress, Cha Joo-Young; Julie A. Robinson, Chief Scientist of the International Space Station (ISS) Program at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center from 2007 to 2018; Bibhu Mohapatra, New York-based fashion designer and costume designer; and Ann Overdiek Dalton, co-founder of Perfectly Posh.
Particularly notable faculty include Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012), author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; Michael Ballam, a tenor and general director of the Utah Festival Opera; Don L. Lind (1930–2022), NASA Astronaut and member of "The Original 19"; George Dewey Clyde, Governor of Utah; Christopher Cokinos, (2002-2011) award-winning poet and nonfiction writer; Hugo de Garis, artificial intelligence researcher, (2001-2006); Rainer Maria Latzke, mural and fresco painter, and founder of the Institute of Frescography; David Peak, physicist, Utah Carnegie Professor of the Year, and mentor to 1 Rhodes and 7 Goldwater Scholars; Richard B. Powers, American psychologist; Joseph Tainter, anthropologist and historian; and Maura Hagan, Professor of Physics and Dean of the College of Science at Utah State University.