President

The Board of Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee seek the next president of Michigan State University (MSU), the nation’s premier land-grant university. 

MSU operates at scale. It is one of the nation’s largest institutions of higher education, enrolling more than 50,000 students, including about 11,000 graduate and professional school students in 17 degree-granting colleges. There are over 500,000 MSU alumni worldwide, with 286,000 of them residing in Michigan. 

MSU pairs a vigorous opportunity agenda, for students, with formidable status as a Big Ten, AAU, and R-1 research university, with fiscal year 2022 sponsored research expenditures of $759 million. It ranks 31^st among US public universities in the 2023 US News & World Report rankings, with 39 programs and concentrations ranked in the top 25 nationally, including six programs ranked #1. 

Over the last ten years, the University’s research expenditures have risen from $515 million in FY 2013 to $759 million in FY 2022, including an increase of $49 million since 2021. The 2030 strategic plan aims for $1 billion per year in research expenditures by 2030, a growth trajectory consistent with MSU’s history.

The University has an operating budget of $3.2 billion and a $3.58 billion endowment. Its 584 buildings comprise 24.5 million square feet of space.

In contrast to most research-intensive peer institutions, MSU proudly includes rather than excludes. The university accepts 83 percent of undergraduate applicants, aided by relationships with community colleges, and enthusiastically combines research excellence with student success and community engagement. 

Michigan State University has a student retention rate of 89 percent for first-year undergraduate students (as of fall 2021) and an 82 percent six-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time students (as of August 2022), representing an upward trajectory and record of accomplishment only rivaled by selective institutions.  The strategic plan sets a goal of reaching an 86 percent graduation rate by 2030, a figure well within the University’s reach.

Among the nation’s large universities, MSU holds a rare position. It combines research excellence on a competitive, international scale with historic and impressive access, as well as unrivaled student success. It has led the nation with its mission for decades, and it continues to lead today.

The University has a rare foundation in healthcare, offering significant opportunities. MSU is one of only two universities in the nation to offer both M.D. and D.O. degree-granting programs and is one of a handful of institutions offering degrees in allopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, veterinary medicine, and nursing. Healthcare in Michigan has consolidated into a few, large systems and, in the last few years, MSU has built elaborate relationships with three of the biggest and most successful systems. For each, MSU has become its academic anchor partner, co-investing in research and education.

The last few years have been a demanding time for Michigan State. Revelations around sexual abuse in 2016 roiled the University. The entire University, from the Board to administrative leadership to faculty and staff, has focused on building out a robust response. The University has invested heavily in its Office for Civil Rights and Title IX Education and Compliance and created some of the most comprehensive policies and training around sexual misconduct in the country.

Michigan State’s most ambitious fundraising campaign in its history, Empower Extraordinary, concluded on December 31, 2019, with $1.83 billion raised over seven years. Record giving by donors pushed the University past its original goal of $1.5 billion.

Michigan Stat­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­e University is a mission-driven university excellently positioned for the future and awaits the appointment of a new president. 

John Isaacson is leading this search with Joanna Cook and Debbie Scheibler.