Jacksonville State University

Jacksonville State University International Student Insurance

General Information

Jacksonville State University (JSU), located in Jacksonville, Alabama, was established in 1883. It was founded as the Jacksonville State Normal School, a training institution for teachers, and has also been known as the Jacksonville State Teachers College (starting in 1930) and Jacksonville State College (in 1957) before adopting its current name in 1966. JSU offers bachelor’s, master’s, education specialist, and—as of 2011—its first doctorate degree (Doctor of Science in Emergency Management) across its five academic divisions: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Commerce and Business Administration, the College of Education and Professional Studies, the College of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education, and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Today, JSU enrolls about 8,500 students and counting each year. The school colors are red and white, and its athletic nickname is the Gamecocks.

On Campus

The JSU main campus lies across 459 acres of the Appalachian foothills in northeast Alabama. It also operates two satellite locations. The Little River Canyon Center campus opened in 2009 and consists of a single building in Fort Payne, Alabama, that abuts the Little River Canyon National Preserve. The McClellan campus, established in 2003, shares space with Gadsden State Community College and is home to the Institute of Emergency Preparedness, In-Service, and the Northeast Alabama Police Academy.

The school’s marching band, the Marching Southerners, has achieved some level of acclaim. They led the New Year’s Day Parade in London, England, in 2012, a parade that also celebrated the upcoming 2012 London Summer Olympics and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.

Notable Alumni

Notable Jackson State University alumni include JoAnn H. Morgan, the first female engineer at the NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center; Catholic bishop F. Richard Spencer; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Bragg; country musician Riley Green; actor Cary Guffey; and CNN news anchor Catherine Callaway.

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