A collage of photos includes Baby Jay and Big Jay sitting on a bench with the words Art in the Park between them and a folklorico dancer holding their colorful traditional Mexican skirt out to the sides, student volunteers high-five in front of a wheelbarrow, a person smiles while holding up a picture book, and a healthcare professional smiles while interacting with a baby on their parent’s lap.

It’s good to have Jayhawks in your neighborhood

The University of Kansas serves communities across the state. Jayhawks provide healthcare, increase safety, make lifesaving discoveries, and deliver services that better the lives of Kansans like you.

Better access, better treatments, better outcomes

As rural providers face shortages in funding, resources, and staff, Jayhawks help ensure Kansas communities have the healthcare they need. In fact, KU is one of the country’s top producers of graduates who practice medicine in rural and underserved areas.

How KU serves Kansas

105
Counties that receive medical outreach from KU Medical Center
Top 1%
University of Kansas Cancer Center national ranking
58
Active startup companies formed from KU research, with more than half based in Kansas

Serving Kansas while boosting the economy

The largest university-educated share of the Kansas workforce comes from the University of Kansas. As the state’s flagship institution, KU attracts talent from outside the state, creates jobs, and trains the professionals who help communities grow. 

Skilled KU graduates serve Kansas in a variety of industries, including government, education, healthcare, social services, manufacturing, and finance. These professionals create $2.5 billion in added income for the Kansas economy annually.

Training the first responders who keep you safe

Whether you live on the prairie, in a flood plain, in a small town, or in a densely populated city, KU plays a large role in your safety. Through the Kansas Fire & Rescue Training Institute and Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, we instruct the first responders who serve your community.
Two people using wheelchairs have a conversation in the lobby of an office space.

Good jobs for good wages

A nationwide push to employ people with disabilities started in Kansas, made possible by research at the KU Center on Disabilities and the KU Institute for Health and Disability Policy Studies. 

In 2011, Kansas was the first state in the nation to establish “competitive integrated employment,” a framework for workplaces to employ people with and without disabilities and to pay both competitive wages. Thirty other states have since followed this model. Initiatives like this allow people with disabilities to lead more independent lives, and states benefit from a larger and more diverse workforce.

A child sitting at a table in a library listens to the adult working with them at the table.

Flexible solutions for improving literacy  

Strong reading skills are vital to successfully navigating everyday life — reading instructions, directions on medications, news and entertainment sites, and more. Literacy skills are also required for most good jobs. 

To improve reading proficiency in Kansas, KU Life Span Institute researchers, in collaboration with the KU School of Education & Human Sciences and the Washburn University Education Department, recently launched Literacy Bridges. This online repository of tools and information is tailored to the reading needs of Kansas schools, students, and families in small, rural communities, major population centers, and beyond. The program also supports the goals of the Blueprint for Literacy, a statewide initiative signed by Gov. Laura Kelly in 2024 focused on improving literacy rates among K-12 students in Kansas.

Bringing art into the classroom

To help teachers harness the power of art in their classrooms, the Spencer Museum of Art has developed a free professional development program for K-12 teachers across the state. Participants in the Partners in Education Across Kansas (PEAK) program receive the training and tools to develop arts-integrated lessons inspired by the Spencer’s collection of more than 48,000 objects. These lesson plans are shared online and available to teachers in all districts. 

Incorporating works of art into other subjects helps students visualize concepts, and research shows it increases engagement and achievement. Students can apply measurement, fractions, and ratios while creating scaled drawings. They can build ecosystems or the solar system with clay. For more than 50 years, the Spencer Museum of Art has served kindergarten through high school teachers and students with these kinds of educational experiences to spark creativity and support academics in Kansas.
Three art teachers draw on a large piece of white paper taped to a wall.
A close-up image of a sunflower

There’s so much to discover

Groundbreaking research and academic excellence at the University of Kansas shine through the people who put knowledge into action to improve your world.

See how KU delivers results