Colleges & Universities

Providing world-class education remains a top priority in Kansas City, Kansas With a number of colleges and universities, the educational opportunities available in Kansas City, Kan. and the surrounding Kansas City metropolitan area help students prepare for a variety of vocations and careers, giving them the tools to succeed throughout their professional journey.

KU Medical Center offers extensive educational options for healthcare professionals, including undergraduate, graduate, professional, postdoctoral and continuing education programs. KU Medical Center operates three schools: The School of Medicine (the only medical school in Kansas), The School of Nursing and The School of Health Professions. Additionally, KU Medical Center has made world-class research a central focus. The Universityof Kansas Cancer Center is one of only 68 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers in the country, a designation that was achieved in 2012. The next step, already underway, is NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center designation. Additionally, the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center is one of an elite group of 29 nationally designated institutions. From innovative treatments to ongoing community engagement, KU Med has made discovering, teaching and delivering exemplary healthcare a reality.

Kansas City Kansas Community College is a public two-year institution with the versatility to help students prepare for—and achieve—a variety of goals. Whether students want to transfer to a four-year institution, train for a technical career, upgrade professional skills or pursue opportunities for self-fulfillment, KCKCC can help students with these goals and more. Just as Kansas City, Kansas provides itself on its rich cultural diversity, KCKCC makes multicultural education a priority, enhancing relationships not just within the college, but throughout the surrounding community. In spring 2015, KCKCC welcomed a total enrollment of 6,052, primarily from Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties in Kansas. KCKCC also features an athletic program, Blue Devil Athletics, with men’s baseball, basketball, golf and soccer and women’s basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball.

Located in the heart of Kansas City, Kansas Donnelly College is an independent, coeducational Catholic institution established in 1949. Originally founded to offer affordable Catholic higher education to urban immigrants and the working class, Donnelly continues to focus on increasing access to those that are typically underrepresented in higher education. Not only is Donnelly one of the top 100 most affordable colleges in the U.S.; it’s also the region’s only federally serving Minority Serving Institution and Hispanic Serving Institution. Donnelly’s education combines a liberal arts curriculum integrated with career-oriented majors, including bachelor’s and associate degrees. Donnelly serves more than 1,300 students annually, 93% of which are first-generation college students. Of Donnelly’s associate degree graduates, 95% of them go on to pursue four-year degrees.

The Kansas City metropolitan area is home to a number of colleges and universities, including the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a public research university that’s part of the University of Missouri system and has earned a number of accolades, including classification from Newsweek as one of the top 5 gay-friendly campuses in the U.S. Park University, based in Parkville, Missouri, offers academic programs in five schools: liberal arts and sciences, music, business, education and graduate and professional studies. The picturesque university is also home to a unique feature: Parkville Commercial Underground, which offers more than 385,000 square feet of leasable space underground that’s ideal for small businesses, wholesalers and light manufacturers. On the other side of the state line, Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas is one of the state’s largest higher education institutions. JCCC offers a number of areas of study, including a renowned hospitality and culinary program. Campus attractions include the Regnier Center, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and Café Tempo. Rockhurst University is one of 28 Jesuit colleges in the U.S. and has been consistently ranked among the top regional universities in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report. For business students, the 30-hour Helzberg Executive MBA program is one of the first of its kind in the nation, focusing on the interaction between students and leaders in the business community to create a unique learning opportunity that’s not readily available in other business courses.