Joseph R. Williams, the first president and a passionate promoter of interdisciplinary liberal arts education, encouraged a curriculum that went far beyond practical agriculture: "The course of instruction in said college shall include the following branches of education, viz: an English and scientific course, natural philosophy, chemistry, botany, animal and vegetable anatomy and physiology, geology, mineralogy, meteorology, entomology, veterinary art, mensuration, leveling and political economy, with bookkeeping and the mechanic arts which are directly connected with agriculture..." From its inception, the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan offered courses of study that would characterize the land-grant philosophy of higher education after the passage of the Morrill Act in 1862.

Despite Williams' eloquent defense of an all-round education for the masses, the board saw the college as inefficient and had far deviated from the agriculture focus as the founder, John Clough Holmes, had anticipated.

[48] Other landmarks include the bronze statue of former president John A. Hannah,[49] the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, and the painted boulder known as "The Rock", a popular spot for theater, tailgating, and candlelight vigils.

[51] The campus south of the river consists mostly of post-World War II International Style buildings, and is characterized by sparser foliage, relatively straight roadways, and many parking lots.

As part of the master plan, the university erected a new bronze statue of The Spartan in 2005 to be placed at the intersection of Chestnut and Kalamazoo, just south of the Red Cedar River.

[98] The latest edition of U.S. News ranked Michigan State's undergraduate and graduate supply chain management/logistics programs in the Eli Broad College of Business first in the nation.

[109] The $730 million facility has a goal to attract top researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in basic nuclear science, astrophysics, and applications of isotopes to other fields.

[110] In that same year, Michigan State, in consortium with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the government of Brazil, broke ground on the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) in the Andes Mountains of Chile.

[113] This alliance was formed to transform and strengthen Michigan's economy by reaching out to businesses, policymakers, innovators, investors and the public to speed up technology transfer, make resources more accessible and attract new jobs to the state.

[130] The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, which Businessweek magazine in 2012 ranked 35th in the nation and 14th among public institutions,[131] offers three MBA programs, as well as joint degrees with the College of Law.

The dean of the college, Randolph Rasch, was appointed to a statewide task force in 2020 by the governor to help establish an implicit bias training initiative for all health care workers in the state.

[142] The College of Human Medicine has recently gained attention for its expansion into the Grand Rapids area, with the new Secchia Center completed in the Fall of 2010, that is expected to fuel the growing medical industry in that region.

MSU offers a 30 credit graduate program for a Master of Arts in Educational Technology[152] in 3 different formats; completely online,[153] hybrid[154] in East Lansing, or overseas.

Engineering in today's society has shown to have a monumental impact on the global economy due to advancements in education, as well as interdependence on economics with infrastructure, computers, transportation, technology and other manufactured goods.

[159] In 2014, the Detroit Free Press wrote a news article referencing Michigan State University's Recruiting Trends 2014–15 report, which ranked engineering among the top 20 college degrees with the highest starting salaries.

[5] In fall 2019, 5,660 international students enrolled at MSU, with the top five countries outside North America being China (2,965), India (506), South Korea (331), Saudi Arabia (222) and Taiwan (144).

[184] Amid the fall of Kabul in August 2021, MSU, in concert with US Representative Elissa Slotkin, facilitated the evacuation of over 70 staff, scholars, and their families related to an MSU-USAID collaborative program in Afghanistan.

[215] The certificate program consists of year-round crop production, course work in organic farming, practical training and management, and an off-site internship requirement.

[227] It was later reported in the same paper that "An investigation by the U.S. Department of Education into how Michigan State University handles sexual assault complaints was spurred by an incident in Wonders Hall in August 2010, a spokesman said.

Between the police report filing and the time of sentencing, 156 victims, including Olympic gymnasts and MSU student athletes, came forward to speak of abuses inflicted by Nassar.

The Detroit News reported that 14 MSU representatives—including athletic trainers, coaches, a university police detective, and administrators—had possibly been alerted of sexual misconduct by Nassar across two decades, with notification of an incident in 2014 documented by a Title IX investigation.

[237] MSU's role in the scandal, as well as mounting pressure from the public and alumni, led to several high-level staff changes, including the resignation of President Lou Anna Simon in January 2018, as well as the retirement of athletic director Mark Hollis[238][239] and gymnastics coach Kathie Klages.

[240] Former Michigan Governor John Engler replaced Simon as interim president of the university, but resigned in January 2019 after a pattern of controversial comments about the ongoing scandal including that Nassar's victims were "enjoying" the spotlight.

Other famous 19th-century alumni include Ray Stannard Baker,[262] a famed "muckraker" journalist and Pulitzer Prize winning biographer; Minakata Kumagusu,[263] a renowned environmental scientist; and William Chandler Bagley, a pioneering education reformer.

[277] Composer Dika Newlin received her undergraduate degree from MSU,[278] while lyricist, theatrical director and clinical psychologist Jacques Levy earned a doctorate in psychology.

MSU alumni formerly or currently in the NBA include point guard and three-time MVP Earvin "Magic" Johnson,[289] Greg Kelser,[290] Jay Vincent,[291] Steve Smith,[292] Scott Skiles,[293] Jason Richardson,[294] and Zach Randolph.

[295] In the National Football League, MSU alumni include Carl Banks, who was a member of the Giants teams that won Super Bowls XXI and XXV and a member of the NFL's 1980's All-Decade Team; twenty-one year veteran quarterback Earl Morrall,[296] defensive end and actor Bubba Smith,[297] former Detroit Lions head coach Wayne Fontes,[298] NFL games-played leader Morten Andersen,[299] Plaxico Burress,[300] Andre Rison,[301] Derrick Mason,[302] Muhsin Muhammad,[303] T. J. Duckett,[304] Flozell Adams,[305] Julian Peterson,[306] Charles Rogers,[307] and Jim Miller.

[318] Former Michigan State players in Major League Baseball include Hall of Fame inductee Robin Roberts,[319] Kirk Gibson,[320] Steve Garvey[321] and Mark Mulder.

[326] NCAA Gymnastics Champion and former Sesame Street Muppet performer Toby Towson are MSU alumni as is professional wrestler George "The Animal" Steele.

[327] Shirley Weis, Mayo Clinic Chief Administrative Officer, is a 1975 graduate of the MSU College of Nursing and received an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 2014.