AJC 10 Fast Facts about Bluefield State College
- Bluefield State is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
- BSC maintains 14 fully accredited programs
- BSC offers the most affordable in-state tuition of all public four-year colleges and universities within a 200 mile radius, and was included in the college planning site Best Colleges.com's list of the 50 colleges and universities in America with the most affordable out-of-state tuition
- Bluefield State College students contended for another world championship and reached the final round during the recent "2015 Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) Autonomous Challenge. A BSC student team won the 2008 IGVC world championship.
- A $3 million upgrade has enhanced academic laboratories across the campus in areas including engineering technology, nursing, radiologic technology, and both biomedical and microbiology research.
- BSC students visit several area schools each year, delivering robotics and biomedical presentations to students, staging science fairs, and providing students hands-on exercises through the BioEYES program.
- BSC accounting students and faculty have provided income tax preparation assistance to an average of 300+ qualifying area residents per year through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
- BSC students enjoy the unique opportunity to interact globally through Soliya, a program that connects students from multiple countries through technology for virtual face-to-face study of other nations and current events.
- BSC offers a variety of majors and is especially known for our strong STEM and workforce-oriented degrees. These include Nursing and Radiologic Technology as well as our Engineering Technology programs. Jobs in these fields are crucial to West Virginia, and employers appreciate the solid skills displayed by our graduates.
- The BSC women's basketball team won the National ECAC Women's Basketball Championship in 2014-15, and the BSC men's tennis team has won the Atlantic Regional Championship in Men's Tennis (2012-2015), advancing to the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA-Division II Tennis Championships in 2015.
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Bluefield State College was founded to serve the then booming coal producing region of southern West Virginia to fill the need for the segregated public schools and the coal mining camps located in the area.
Lead by state Senator Larry Mahood, a group of progressive citizens of both races worked together to establish Bluefield Colored Institute, a “high graded school for Negroes,” in 1895.
The institution evolved into a black teacher‘s college, adopting formal teacher training in 1909 and was renamed Bluefield State Teachers College in 1931.
The name Bluefield State College was adopted in 1943, reflecting a growth in the number and diversity of the institution's academic programs.
Bluefield State College was integrated after the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling of 1954. By the 1960s, the College had comprehensive four-year programs in teacher education, fine arts and sciences, and engineering technology.
Gradually, a variety of two-year technical programs also evolved in response to the local needs of the region.
Bluefield State College has emerged as a four year state supported college with a primary academic emphasis in both, professional and technical programs. The liberal arts offerings of the College are designed to enhance its unique mission.
But during the late 1960s, black students protested that the state was transforming the school from a traditional black college to a white commuter college. One of the allegations made was that black faculty and staff were being fired and replaced by less qualified white personnel.
On Nov. 21, 1968, the racial tensions culminated in the bombing of the gymnasium. A $5,000 reward was offered and the administration responded by immediately closing the dormitories, which housed a significant percentage of the college's out-of-state black student population, hastening the transition to a predominantly white college.
With the dormitories closed and the needs of the region changing Bluefield State again changed in the 1970s and 1980s into a more community college model. Academic programs that included nursing, civil & mining engineering, computer science, criminal justice and technology became the main programs of study.
As the region saw the decline of the coal industry and the supporting population at the turn of the new century Bluefield State’s mission again changed. Less traditional liberal arts and teaching programs were offered. Programs in business technology and diverse areas of medical technology were added to an award winning nursing program.
Today, as Bluefield State College faces a region still changing, its mission to serve is still alive.
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