[5] The selective admissions university consists of six colleges and the Doré School of Graduate Studies.

The name became John McNeese Junior College in 1940 by resolution of the University Board of Supervisors in honor of Imperial Calcasieu Parish's first superintendent of schools.

The bill was advanced by State Senator Gilbert Franklin Hennigan of DeRidder in neighboring Beauregard Parish.

The 121-acre main campus, dotted with live oak trees and azaleas, features approximately 51 buildings including the three original structures – Kaufman Hall, Ralph O.

Bulber Auditorium, a striking example of Art Deco architecture, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[6] The newest addition to the campus is the 145,000 square foot Legacy Center, which houses the academic classes, faculty offices and training facilities for the Department of Health and Human Performance (effective June 1, 2024, the department will be renamed as the H.C. Drew School of Kinesiology), in addition to being home to the men's and women's basketball and volleyball programs.

[8] Jack V. Doland Field House is named after a former McNeese head football coach, athletic director and university president.

The campus features four significant sculptures, including "An Honest Day's Work" by sculptor Fred Fellows[9] located at Entrance Plaza, a commemorative statue of John McNeese by sculptor Janie Stine LaCroix[10] located near Smith Hall, "The Cowboy" created by legendary western painter and sculptor Buck McCain located inside Jack V. Doland Field House[11] and the iconic replica of the famous Frederic Remington sculpture, “The Bronco Buster,”[9] located in front of the Field House.

[16] The Department of English and Foreign Languages, in conjunction with the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, publishes The Arena, which is an annual collection of art, essays, fiction, and poetry by students, regardless of major.

[17] Faculty members in the Departments of Engineering, Performing Arts, Social Sciences and English and Foreign Languages have taught in Rwanda, Romania, Greece, Korea, and Wales, among other countries.

The football team plays at Louis Bonnette Field at Cowboy Stadium, which seats 17,000 fans.

The school's most famous basketball alumnus is Joe Dumars, who was a first-round draft pick (18th overall) of the Detroit Pistons in 1985 and went on to have a Hall of Fame career with them.

The women's basketball team earned its invitation to the "Big Dance" in 2011, by sweeping the Southland Conference Tournament.

In 2011, both the men's and women's basketball teams claimed the Southland Conference title in their respective divisions, marking the first time in the 25-year history of the Southland Conference that the men's and women's teams from the same university have won regular-season titles in the same year.

[23] Fitzgerald, who had previously served as the team's associate head coach, made an immediate impact in the program, leading the Cowgirls to a 9–10–1 record and taking the sixth place seed in their 13th Southland Conference tournament appearance and their first appearance in the second round of the tournament since the 2008 season.

[24] The last and only time the Cowgirl Soccer team was able to capture the Southland Conference tournament title and earn a bid to the NCAA Championship tournament was in 2006, when the team suffered a 2-0 first round loss to Southern Methodist University.