Winston-Salem State University was founded as the Slater Industrial Academy on Sept. 28, 1892. It began in a one-room frame structure with 25 pupils and one teacher. In 1895, the school was recognized by the State of North Carolina, and in 1899, it was chartered by the state as Slater Industrial and State Normal School.
In 1925, the General Assembly of North Carolina recognized the school’s curriculum above high school, changed its name to Winston-Salem Teachers College, and empowered it under authority of the State Board of Education to confer appropriate degrees.
Winston-Salem Teachers College thus became the first black institution in the nation to grant degrees for teaching in the elementary grades.
The School of Nursing was established in 1953, awarding graduates the degree of bachelor of science. The North Carolina General Assembly of 1963 authorized changing the name from Winston-Salem Teachers College to Winston-Salem State College.
A statute designating Winston-Salem State College as Winston-Salem State University received legislative approval in 1969.
On October 30, 1971, the General Assembly reorganized higher education in North Carolina. On July 1, 1972, Winston-Salem State University became one of 16 constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina, subject to the control of a Board of Governors.
Since its founding in 1892, Winston-Salem State University has grown from a one-room frame structure to more than 39 buildings located on 110 acres; from one teacher to more than 400 faculty members, and from 25 pupils to a student body of more than 5,000.
The university offers more than 40 bachelor’s degree programs, nine master’s degree programs (business administration, computer science and information technology, elementary education, nursing, occupational therapy, rehabilitation counseling, English as a second language and applied linguistics, teaching, and healthcare administration), two professional doctoral degree programs (Doctor of Physical Therapy and Doctor of Nursing Practice), and five certificate programs.
