[1] Missouri Western State University was founded in 1915 as St. Joseph Junior College and held courses in the original location of Central High School at 13th and Patee.

[3] The establishment of a four-year school was a central campaign issue in the 1964 Democratic gubernatorial primary, when Warren Hearnes of the Bootheel challenged Hilary A. Bush of Kansas City.

The original plan had called for it to be built across from the hospital, just west of Bishop LeBlond High School and closer to downtown St.

[8] In 1988, Shalia Aery, commissioner of higher education under Governor John Ashcroft, recommended that Northwest close and leave Missouri Western as the surviving school.

These changes were a response to years of "downward student enrollment trends, strained state funding resources, rising costs, deferred maintenance needs, long-term debt [and] now the economic impact of covid-19".

[16] The main buildings of Missouri Western State University are all dedicated to someone who is an important part in MWSU's history.

MWSU competes in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and is in NCAA Division II.

[24] The clearinghouse is an online repository where undergraduates in STEM fields can post articles subject to faculty approval (rather than a formal peer review).

[25][26] Articles from the clearinghouse have been used as resources for journalists at publications including the Wall Street Journal[27] and the Los Angeles Daily News.