Universities and Secondary Schools Bring Educational Acclaim to Topeka
Topeka. is a great place for local high schoolers who want to go to college without leaving their hometown. It’s an even greater place for college grads who want to earn an advanced degree without leaving their college roots behind.
Washburn University is a perennial high ranker on U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best Master’s Level Public Universities in the Midwest. The school earned a Top 10 spot every year between 2001 and 2007. Undergraduate and graduate programs combined, the school offers more than 200 degrees to 7,200 students. The university’s departments of arts and sciences, applied studies, business, law and nursing provide a widely varied curriculum and extensive career options. The campus also offers a newly expanded recreation and wellness center, a renovated science hall and the Mulvane Art Museum, which is the oldest accredited art museum west of the Mississippi River.
Educational options for nontraditional students include Friends University and Baker University, both of which offer adult education campuses in Topeka. The area is also home to eight occupational/technical schools, including Kaw Area Technical School and Topeka Technical College.
The city’s elementary and high school education system includes quality magnet schools and is supplemented by 15 private and parochial schools. Topeka’s library system is also rather extensive. The Topeka and Shawnee County Library reopened in 2002 after a 100,000-square-foot expansion. The collection includes roughly 538,000 books, periodicals microfilms and other pieces, and the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery in the library is the oldest public art collection in the city. Whether a student is looking ahead to college, pursuing a high-level degree, changing careers late in life or just taking in the joy of reading, Topeka is home to the educational resources that make those goals possible.