Louisiana Tech University is located in the small town of Ruston, in the north of the state, between Shreveport and Vicksburg, and around 35 miles south of the Arkansas border.
Established as Louisiana Industrial Institute in 1894, it gained its current name in 1970. The first master’s degrees were obtained in 1959 and the first doctorate 12 years later. During the 25-year presidency of Foster Jay Taylor, from 1962 to 1987, student numbers quadrupled, moving from 3,000 to 12,000, closer to current levels.
A 1926 reorganisation led to engineering, education and liberal arts & sciences colleges being formed, but there are now five, including business and applied & natural sciences.
Business, marketing, engineering, biological sciences and biomedical sciences are among the programmes with the most applicants, though business and engineering have been singled out for extra praise in rankings. Education at Louisiana Tech is also highly regarded.
Louisiana Tech’s notable alumni are especially numerous in elite sport. Terry Bradshaw, a quarterback and four-time Super Bowl champion, and Paul Millsap, the all-star Utah Jazz and Atlanta Hawks forward who was a three-time college rebounding leader during his time at the university are some examples. The most eminent, however, is Karl Malone, a two-time National Basketball Association MVP and long-serving Utah Jazz power forward who returned to Louisiana Tech to coach after retirement.
