CogKnoSys

Knowledge you can walk. Read the idea below, then step up to the general, across to peers or down to the specific.

Physical

Portland State University

Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in downtown Portland, Oregon, founded in 1946 for World War II veterans.

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The idea

Portland State University, or PSU, is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It is one of two public universities in Oregon that are in a large city. Its seven colleges offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in many fields. As of 2023, it had about 21,000 students.

The school began in June 1946 as the Vanport Extension Center, set up by Stephen Epler to serve veterans using the G.I. Bill. Its first classes met in a junior high school in Vanport, on the Columbia River floodplain. After the Vanport Flood of May 1948, the school refused to close and became known as the college that wouldn't die. In 1953 it moved to downtown Portland.

In 1955 it became Portland State College, a four-year school, and it added graduate programs in 1961. Doctoral programs followed in 1972. In 1993 PSU created University Studies, a general education program that ends with a community-based senior capstone project. Its sports teams are the Portland State Vikings, who wear green and white and compete in NCAA Division I.

Check yourself

Question 1 of 2

What was Portland State University called when it opened in 1946?

Pick one. The first pick counts.

Composition

what it's made of

  • Seven Colleges — The schools that together offer the university's undergraduate and graduate degrees.
  • University Studies — A general education program running from freshman inquiry to a senior capstone.
  • Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science — The engineering college, renamed in 2004 after alumnus Fariborz Maseeh.
  • Portland State Vikings — The athletic teams, which play mainly in the Big Sky Conference.
  • Board of Trustees — The board that governs the university.

Connection

how it relates

Under Lower Columbia Institutions

In place

  1. Portland, Oregonstrength 70 of 100

    PSU's campus has been in downtown Portland since 1953.

  2. Columbia Riverstrength 40 of 100

    The school's first classes met at Vanport on the Columbia River floodplain, which the 1948 flood swept over.

Related

  1. Memory and Learningstrength 40 of 100

    Its University Studies program builds learning in stages, from first-year inquiry courses to a senior capstone project.

Change

how and why it evolves

Past
Founded in 1946 for returning World War II veterans, the school was granted university status by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in 1969.
Now
In 2025 the Oregon Legislature named PSU as Oregon's Urban Research University.
Next
As a city-center campus, PSU will likely keep linking its teaching to Portland's communities, as its capstone projects already do.

Knowledge you can walk. Read the idea, then step up, across or down.

Portland State University

Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in downtown Portland, Oregon, founded in 1946 for World War II veterans.

See it on the map

Learn, discuss, create, buy or invest

The idea

Portland State University, or PSU, is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It is one of two public universities in Oregon that are in a large city. Its seven colleges offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in many fields. As of 2023, it had about 21,000 students.

The school began in June 1946 as the Vanport Extension Center, set up by Stephen Epler to serve veterans using the G.I. Bill. Its first classes met in a junior high school in Vanport, on the Columbia River floodplain. After the Vanport Flood of May 1948, the school refused to close and became known as the college that wouldn't die. In 1953 it moved to downtown Portland.

In 1955 it became Portland State College, a four-year school, and it added graduate programs in 1961. Doctoral programs followed in 1972. In 1993 PSU created University Studies, a general education program that ends with a community-based senior capstone project. Its sports teams are the Portland State Vikings, who wear green and white and compete in NCAA Division I.

Check yourself

2 quick questions, instant feedback.