page_title: University of Connecticut
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: University of Connecticut / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Postcard: State agricultural college, Storrs, Connecticut, later named University of Connecticut at Storrs, circa 1903 Description: Caption: "CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, STORRS, CONN." Also on front of card, lower right corner: "ILLUST. POST CARD CO., N.Y."; lower left corner: "4190"
context_page_description: The University of Connecticut is a public research university in Storrs, Connecticut. It was founded in 1881.
  The primary 4,400-acre campus is in Storrs, Connecticut, approximately a half hour's drive from Hartford and 90 minutes from Boston. It is a flagship university that is ranked as tied for the best public national university in New England and is tied for 24th in "top public schools" and tied for 64th best national university in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report rankings. UConn has been ranked by Money Magazine and Princeton Review top 18th in value.
  The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The university has been recognized as a Public Ivy, defined as a select group of publicly funded universities considered to provide a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League.
  UConn is one of the founding institutions of the Hartford, Connecticut/Springfield, Massachusetts regional economic and cultural partnership alliance known as New England's Knowledge Corridor.
context_section_description: UConn was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School. It was named after Charles and Augustus Storrs, brothers who donated the land for the school as well as initial funding. Women began attending classes in 1891 and were officially admitted in 1893, when the name was changed to Storrs Agricultural College and it became Connecticut's land grant college. In 1899, the name changed again to Connecticut Agricultural College; in 1933, to Connecticut State College; and finally, in 1939, to the University of Connecticut.
  In 1940, the school was first divided into individual colleges and schools, reflecting its new university status. This was also the year the School of Social Work and School of Nursing were established. The graduate program was also started at this time, and the schools of law and pharmacy were absorbed into the university. Ph.D.s have been awarded since 1949.
  During the 1970s, UConn Health was established in Farmington as a home for the new School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine. John Dempsey Hospital opened in Farmington in 1975 and has been operated by UConn ever since.
  In 1995, a state-funded program called UConn 2000 was passed by the Connecticut General Assembly and signed into law by then-Governor John G. Rowland. This 10-year program set aside $1 billion to upgrade campus facilities, add faculty, and otherwise improve the university. An additional $1.3 billion was pledged by the State of Connecticut in 2002 as part of a new 10-year improvement plan known as 21st Century UConn.
  An agreement was reached in 2012 to launch Jackson Laboratory's $1.1 billion genomic medicine lab on the Farmington UConn Health campus as part of the Bioscience Connecticut initiative. In 2013, Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed into law Next Generation Connecticut, committing $1.7 billion in funding over a decade to enhance UConn's infrastructure, hire additional faculty, and upgrade STEM initiatives.
caption: University of Connecticut, circa 1903
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