ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) - Construction has begun on the Northland Innovation Campus that will expand the presence of Northwest Missouri State University in the Kansas City area.
The St. Joseph News-Press (http://bit.ly/1HvbUd5) reports the university broke ground Tuesday on the $20 million project for the 90,000-square-foot research and education complex. The planned campus is a partnership between the college, the city of Gladstone and North Kansas City Schools.
Northwest will lease the top floor of the facility for a 10-year with an option to renew. It will offer seven undergraduate programs at the new campus, including recreation and wellness, elementary education, special education, early childhood, computer sciences, business and marketing. Graduate students may pursue programs in education and business.
The college also will offer dual credit coursework at the campus as part of its partnership with Northland Center for Advanced Professional Studies.
Northwest provost Timothy Mottet said the new campus would strengthen the school's ties to Kansas City. The school has traditionally found success recruiting students from the Kansas City area.
"What we're doing is we're taking what we do well in Maryville and we're replicating that to the best of our ability at the Northland Innovation Campus," Mottet said.