McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. McNeese is part of the University of Louisiana System and is classified as a Master's University. The selective admissions university consists of six colleges and the Doré School of Graduate Studies. McNeese is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and all programs of study are accredited by their respective national boards.
Statue of John McNeese on the campus. McNeese, a regional pioneer educator, is the namesake of the university.
The President's Home
The Quadrangle looking toward the Student Union, also known as The Ranch
Contraband Bayou runs through the southern portion of the McNeese campus.
Lake Charles is the fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu Parish, it is a major industrial, cultural, and educational center in the southwest region of the state. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Lake Charles's population was 84,872.
Ryan Street in Lake Charles, 1903
Downtown Lake Charles, c. 1917
Henderson Bayou
Swimming in polluted Lake Charles opposite the Olin Mathieson chemical plant in 1972. Cleanup efforts of Lake Charles' waterways have been so successful that Prien Lake now supports both recreational and commercial fishing, and has a safe public beach.