Columbus State University is a public university in the southern state of Georgia. 

CSU opened in 1958, then overseeing the education of approximately 300 students. Four-year courses commenced in 1965. Also running courses in areas like arts, education and nursing, and business.

It started offering various postgraduate options just years after its formation, and now includes online courses among the 70-plus programmes available overall.

The brainchild of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, most of its 132-acre campus is in Columbus itself, 100 miles from the state capital of Atlanta, the only city in Georgia with a higher population. CSU’s principal campus is in the north east of town, while its RiverPark campus narrowly east of the Chattahoochee River, which separates much of Georgia from Alabama and has the biggest white water rafting course globally, teaches performing arts, history and geography.  An hourly shuttle bus connects the two.

A small Fort Benning campus lies 12 miles south. Exchange programmes are available in around 15 countries, and many CSU students study overseas for a spell.

CSU is one of the state’s most significant players in college sports, its golf team having won several championships and its baseball team having made it to the College World Series.

Alumni include Joni Ernst, the first female veteran to become a United States Senator.