Texas State University is a public research university located in San Marcos, Texas, United States. Established in 1899 as the Southwest Texas State Normal School, it opened in 1903 to 303 students. Since that time it has grown into the largest institution in the Texas State University System and the fifth-largest university in the state of Texas with an enrollment of over 38,000 students for the 2015 fall semester. It has 10 colleges and about 50 schools and departments, including nationally recognized programs in Geography, Criminal Justice and Music.
Texas State is classified as a research university with higher research activity by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and an emerging research university by the State of Texas. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . Faculty from the various college have consistently been given Fulbright Scholar grants
resulting in Texas State being recognized as one of the top producing universities of Fulbright Scholars. The 36th President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, graduated from the institution in 1930.
Texas State's main campus consists of 245 buildings on 492acre of hilly land along the San Marcos River. It also has a satellite campus that started as a multi-institution teaching center offering undergraduate and graduate programs at the Texas State University Round Rock Campus (RRC) in the greater north Austin area. The university operates the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Park, a 58 acre technology commercialization and applied research facility. The Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State is the largest forensics research facility in the world.
Texas State University's intercollegiate sports teams, commonly known as the Bobcats, compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Sun Belt Conference.