The Kansas State Collegian is the daily newspaper at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Its content is reported, edited, and produced entirely by students, and students make up the advertising sales staff.

It is the ninth-largest daily newspaper in Kansas and is published Monday through Friday when classes are in session during the academic year, and weekly over the summer.

The Collegian is owned by Student Publications Incorporated, a non-profit business that also publishes the Royal Purple yearbook and the KSU Campus Phone Book. Incorporated in 1946, Student Publications is overseen by a board of directors, half of whom are students who are elected by their fellow students. Business operations are managed by a professional staff.

Most of the corporation's income comes from the sale of advertisements. The rest comes from student activity fees, and the sale of yearbooks, phone books and mail subscriptions to the Collegian. Student Publications receives no funding from Kansas State University or the State of Kansas; it contributes more than $2000 a year to the state in sales tax collected on its products.

Mail Subscriptions

You can receive the Collegian by mail for $95 per year. For orders call (785) 532-0723 or send an e-mail to jharmon@ksu.edu.

Contact Us

Newsroom: (785) 532-6556            news@spub.ksu.edu

Advertising staff: (785) 532-6560            adsales@spub.ksu.edu

Classified ads: (785) 532-6555            classifieds@spub.ksu.edu and here

Business office: (785) 532-6555

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Joining the Student Staff

How do students work their way upward to editorships?



The staff-application process is competitive. If you don't land a position, offer to work as a freelancer. Spend some time in the newsroom. Offer to lend a hand. Volunteer for assignments, prove yourself as an important contributor, and you'll soon be on staff.



I'm from a small school. How do I adjust?



Yes, the RP and Collegian are big publications. But they're run by students who also have commitments to classes, other organizations and even other part-time jobs. Just spend some time at the publications office. Talk to staff members. Get their advice on how they survived their first days at Student Pub.

Most K-State students are from Kansas, and you'll probably find someone with a similar background.

But to be a success as a collegiate journalist requires a commitment of time. We like to help incoming students, particularly freshmen, manage their time and not become overwhelmed.



How do I apply for student staff? And when?



We welcome applications from K-State students of all majors.

The Royal Purple hires students for a one-year commitment. The Collegian hires students for a semester commitment. RP applications are typically due near April 1 for the following academic year.

Collegian applications are typically due near Nov. 1 for the following spring semester and near April 1 for the following summer and fall semesters. Application materials are available in the Student Pub front office, Kedzie 103. Most staffs, however, do accept applications on a rolling basis.



Do I need my own equipment?



Only photojournalists do. They provide their own camera and lenses, but Student Publications loans specialized equipment to its staff. Most student photojournalists enter our program having invested in their own equipment at the high-school or community-college level.

Otherwise, Student Pub offers state-of-the-art equipment. We invest in the equipment -- the hardware, the software and the peripherals -- the professionals use. In fact, we rely on our own team of student technicians to manage Student Publications' equipment.

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COLLEGIAN HISTORY

1896

K-State celebrates the inaugural edition of the campus newspaper, originally named The Student Herald.

1910

K-State adds curriculum in industrial journalism, the only four-year course in printing offered by any college or university in the United States.

1944

During World War II, the paper was reduced from a broadsheet to a tabloid and was published once a week on the campus press. Staff members had to put each letter into a slide by hand in the production department.

1946

After being printed on campus for more than a year, the paper returned to its former size and was published on the presses of the Mercury-Chronicle.

1949

A Cox-O Type press was installed in the basement of Kedzie Hall, and the Collegian went from a semi-weekly broadsheet to a daily tabloid-sized publication. The press was capable of printing 3,5000 copies per hour.

1966

A $50,000 Cottrell web offset press was installed and was designed to produce 15,000 eight-page newspapers an hour. It was also capable of producing 24-page papers and printing color. The first Collegian to use a four-color picture was the 176-page University Edition, a tabloid edition mailed to incoming freshmen and transfer students.

1972

Bill Brown, the director of Student Publications, convinced the board to purchase the Collegian's first computers -- two Hendrix editing display terminals. This was the first computerized editing equipment in a Kansas newsroom and among the first four in a U.S. university.