Missouri State University, formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enrollment, with an enrollment of 23,418 in the fall semester of 2023. The school also operates a two-year campus in West Plains, Missouri offering associate degrees, which had an enrollment of 1,060 in the fall semester of 2023. A bachelor's degree in business is offered at Liaoning Normal University in China. The university also operates a fruit research station in Mountain Grove, Missouri and a Department of Defense and Strategic Studies program in Fairfax, Virginia.

Springfield is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 487,061 in 2022 and includes the counties of Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, and Webster, The city sits on the Springfield Plateau of the Ozarks, which ranges from nearly-level to rolling hills. Springfield is the second-largest urban area in the Ozarks.