Tarleton State University is a university located in Stephenville, Texas. Tarleton State University is the largest non-land-grant university primarially devoted to agriculture in the United States.

Founded in 1899 as John Tarleton College, the institution became a member of The Texas A&M University System in 1917. Tarleton gained status as a university in 1973 and has experienced considerable growth in the past decade. Tarleton continues to break new ground in many academic arenas, including water quality and other environmental science topics. Students come from more than 220 Texas counties, as well as 45 states and 17 foreign countries. Tarleton offers an MBA program at Fort Hood and a Clinical Laboratory Science Program in Fort Worth.

Located near the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Tarleton is a growing institution, known for its internationally recognized horse production program and innovative teacher education programs. The university has one of the largest and oldest public school improvement partnerships in the United States that benefits more than 50 area school districts.

Academics

Tarleton has five academic colleges: Liberal and Fine Arts, Business Administration, Agriculture and Human Sciences, Science and Technology, and Education. In addition, the College of Graduate Studies offers both teaching and research-based master's degrees. The university offers a bachelor of science in hydrology, one of only four in the country, and an internationally recognized horse production program. Tarleton also is known for its innovative teacher education programs. Bachelor's degrees in nursing, dietetics, psychology, international agriculture and interdisciplinary business, as well as a master's degree in environmental sciences, recently have been added to the curriculum. Tarleton also is offering an innovative horticulture/landscaping program in golf course management. Tareleton recently added a doctoral degree in educational administration to its curriculum through a collaborative partnership with Texas A&M University-commerce.

Research

The Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research on the Tarleton campus plays a national leadership role in environmental issues related to water quality. This program provides the university, the dairy and beef industries, environmental control agencies and governmental policy groups with water pollution data for the 230,000 acre (930 km²) Upper North Bosque River watershed.

Location

Tarleton is located 65 miles (100 km) southwest of Fort Worth, Texas in Stephenville, the county seat of Erath County. With a population of 16,000, Stephenville provides a combination of small-town security and proximity to Dallas/Fort Worth. Most university activities take place on Tarleton's centrally located, 173 acre (700,000 m²) main campus. A 600 acre (2.4 km²) university farm and the 1,200 acre (4.8 km²) Hunewell Ranch provide additional educational facilities. Recently, Tarleton also began offering programs at its new Granbury location, the Dora Lee Langdon Cultural and Educational Center.