Wayne State University
American public research university located in Detroit, Michigan

Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-largest university with nearly 24,000 graduate and undergraduate students.
Wayne State University, along with Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, and the University of Michigan, comprise Michigan's University Research Corridor. Wayne State is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
Wayne State's main campus comprises 203 acres linking more than 100 education and research buildings. It also has three satellite campuses in Macomb and Wayne counties. The Wayne State Warriors compete in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
History
Wayne State University was established in 1868 as the Detroit Medical College by five returning Civil War veterans. The college charter from 1868 was signed by founder Theodore Andrews McGraw, M.D., a University of Michigan graduate (B.A. 1859).
The public source identifies “Wayne State University” as american public research university located in Detroit, Michigan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Wayne, State and University.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q349055. VIAF identifies the subject as 137194156. The Library of Congress control number is n79063305. Authority coordinates are 42.357, -83.070. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1868 and 1859.
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This entry incorporates text from “Wayne State University” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.