Springfield (The Simpsons) be a specific real town, although the producers acknowledge basing the town on numerous locations including "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, and Mike Scully's hometown, Springfield, Massachusetts. Groening named Springfield after Springfield, Oregon, and also took inspiration from Springfield being the fictitious setting of the series "Father Knows Best". He said, "I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do." Groening liked "Second
Springfield, Missouri schools include Springfield Sudbury School, Summit Preparatory School, Greenwood Laboratory School, New Covenant Academy, Springfield Lutheran School, Springfield Catholic High School, Christian Schools of Springfield, and Grace Classical Academy. Springfield has several colleges and universities. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, Missouri State University (MSU) is the state's second largest university by enrollment, with over 26,000 students. For the seventh consecutive year, MSU was selected for "The Princeton Review"s 2010 list of "Best Colleges: Region by Region." Drury University is a private university with nearly 5,000 students and consistently ranks in "U.S. News & World Report's" Top