page_title: Western Connecticut State University
section_title: Founding and growth
hierarchical_section_title: Western Connecticut State University / History / Founding and growth
caption_attribution_description: English: These are the gates located on the WCSU Mid Town campus.
context_page_description: Western Connecticut State University is a public university founded in 1903 as a teacher’s college in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. WCSU is part of the Connecticut State University System.
  WCSU consists of four schools: the AACSB-accredited Ancell School of Business; the ACS-accredited Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences, with the only undergraduate degree in meteorology studies in Connecticut; the School of Professional Studies; and the NASAD, NASM and NAST-accredited School of Visual and Performing Arts.
  WCSU offers 38 Bachelor’s degree programs, 15 Master’s degree programs and two Doctoral programs, including the Applied Behavior Analysis program and the Master of Science in Integrative Biological Diversity.
  WCSU’s average student/teacher ratio is 12 to 1 and nearly 85% of WCSU bachelor’s degree recipients report employment in the year following graduation.
context_section_description: WCSU was founded in 1903 as a teachers' college, training the primary and secondary school educators for Connecticut's Fairfield County and surrounding areas. The school's name has changed over the years as it has focused on additional areas of study. First named the Danbury Normal School (also known as the Danbury State Normal School), starting in 1937 it was called the Danbury State Teachers College, a name it retained until the late 1950s. The college was renamed Danbury State College in 1959, then Western Connecticut State College in 1967, and finally, in 1983, Western Connecticut State University. In 2011, governance of the university was transferred to the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system.
  In 1904, 41 students were enrolled in the first classes on campus, the number of enrollments climbing to 362 students by 1912.
caption: The entrance gates of WCSU's Midtown campus, located in downtown Danbury.
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