WSU News

Oct. 21, 2026 - “Parents need to know there is support and they’re not alone,” said Pamela O’Neal, associate director in the Office of Online and Adult Learning at Wichita State University. The Parents and Caregivers Community is designed to help adult learners make those choices and succeed with a community of people in similar family and work situations.

Oct. 21, 2026 — Beginning with the class of 2027, more students will be able to see a Wichita State education as a possibility thanks to $218,000 in new scholarship opportunities available through Wichita State’s annual scholarship competitions.

Oct. 20, 2026 - Wichita State University has announced that its new tennis facility will be named the Regine Feilmeier Tennis Complex, recognizing Regine and the Feilmeier family's longstanding commitment to Shocker Tennis and their continued investment in Wichita State's future.

Oct. 20, 2026 - WSU students Reese Willbanks and Izzie Licata are among the roughly 100 actors at Field of Screams Kansas, a long-running haunted attraction at Prairie Pines in Maize and loaded with connections to Wichita State. The lore of the murderous Spurlock family, the attraction’s theme, started with a class paper at WSU by Kip Scott, owner/operator of the attraction.

Oct. 7, 2026 — What began as a student job at Wichita State's Walter H. Beech Wind Tunnel has grown into a 20-year career fueled by curiosity. Now a research manager at NIAR, Kevin Kelly has played a key role in the facility's evolution while mentoring others and continuing to ask the question that drives every engineer: "Why?"

Oct. 1, 2026 - Wichita State University is taking part in the statewide free college application period — Apply Free Days — Monday, Oct. 5 through Friday, Oct. 9. During this period, any Kansas resident who applies for degree-bound undergraduate admission to Wichita State can do so without paying the application fee.

Oct. 1, 2026 — The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities has named Wichita State University as a finalist for its 14th annual Innovation & Economic Prosperity Awards. The awards recognize innovative projects or programs in economic engagement.

Sept. 30, 2026 — Driven by the largest freshman class in university history, combined enrollment by headcount across all Wichita State University locations for fall 2026 is 24,640, according to annual data released today by the Kansas Board of Regents.

Sept. 29, 2026 - The annual remembrance at Memorial ’70 will be held at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at the memorial sculpture at the university entrance at Memorial Drive and Hillside. The ceremony will honor the 31 people - WSU football players, administrators, supporters and flight crew - who died in the crash in Colorado on Oct. 2, 1970.

Sept. 24, 2026 — The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has elected Dr. John Tomblin to the grade of Associate Fellow, class of 2027, recognizing his exceptional leadership and global technical excellence in aerospace engineering. Tomblin is executive vice president for research and Industry and Defense Programs at Wichita State University and executive director of the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR).