page_title: Midwestern University
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Midwestern University / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Cardinal Hall (background) on the Downers Grove campus of Midwestern University.
context_page_description: Midwestern University is a private graduate medical and professional school with a main campus in Downers Grove, Illinois and an additional campus in Glendale, Arizona. Midwestern University offers degrees in osteopathic medicine, podiatry, dental medicine, optometry, nurse anesthesia, clinical psychology, physician assistant studies, physical therapy, pharmacy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, biomedical sciences, and veterinary medicine. As of the 2018-19 academic year, a total of 2,984 students were enrolled at the Downers Grove campus and 3,823 were enrolled at the Glendale campus.
  Founded in 1900 as the American College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine is the fourth-oldest medical school currently active in the state of Illinois. Over the years, the university expanded, adding additional degrees and programs; in 1993, the school united these programs under the name Midwestern University. In 1995, the school opened an additional campus in Glendale, Arizona, becoming the second and largest medical school to teach students in the state of Arizona. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
context_section_description: The university was founded in 1900 as the American College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery. The school was the fourth medical school in the world to grant the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree, and the first in the state of Illinois. In 1913, the school changed its name to the Chicago College of Osteopathy.
  In 1986, the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine moved from its prior location in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois to a new campus in the western suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois.  In 1991, the Chicago College of Pharmacy opened.  The College of Health Sciences began in 1992. In 1993, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved a single educational mission for the institution, uniting the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Chicago College of Pharmacy, and the Chicago College of Health Sciences into Midwestern University. In 2009, the College of Dental Medicine-Illinois opened, followed by the Chicago College of Optometry in 2014 and the College of Graduate Studies in 2018.
  In 1996, the university opened a new campus in Glendale, Arizona.  The first college at the Glendale campus was the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, which began its first courses in 1996.  The college joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine as one of only two medical schools in Arizona at the time, and it remained the only osteopathic medical school in the state until AT Still University opened in Mesa in 2007. In 1997, a physician assistant program was established at the Glendale campus, followed by the College of Pharmacy the next year. In 2006, the College of Dental Medicine-Arizona opened, then the Arizona College of Optometry opened in 2008, and the College of Veterinary Medicine opened in 2012. 
  In 2010, the university received a Conservation and Native Landscaping Awards from the Environmental Protection Agency for restoring 9 acres of wetland and oak-hickory woods. In 2012, the Downers Grove Multispecialty Clinic opened in a five-story, 193,000 square foot building at a cost of $112 million. In 2013, the Downers Grove campus began offering a Doctor of Psychology program, which received accreditation from the American Psychological Association.  The following year (in 2014), the College of Veterinary Medicine opened at the Glendale campus, at a cost of $90 million, with a 109,000-square-foot veterinary teaching hospital, a 36,000-square-foot large animal teaching facility, and a 76,000-square-foot classroom building.  The school is the only veterinary medical school in the state of Arizona, and was the 29th veterinary medical school in the United States.
  In 2018, the university opened the College of Graduate Studies, which offers master's degree programs in biomedical sciences on both campuses.
caption: Cardinal Hall on the Downers Grove campus.
exif: {"Image Tag 0x000B": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image ImageWidth": "4032", "Image ImageLength": "3024", "Image Make": "samsung", "Image Model": "SM-G930V", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image DateTime": "2018:11:25 02:49:10", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "2384", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "10060", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "10174", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9596", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1844", "EXIF FNumber": "17/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "40", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:05:10 11:45:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:05:10 11:45:05", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1356/125", "EXIF ApertureValue": "153/100", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "431/50", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "153/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "21/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4032", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3024", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "10028", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "26", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "C12QLJK01SM", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "-762"}