History of UA

In 1885, nearly three decades before Arizona became a state, the territorial legislature approved $25,000 for building The University of Arizona in Tucson. The first classes convened in 1891, when thirty-two students and six teachers met in the original building now known as Old Main.

The University developed in accordance with the Act of Congress of July 2, 1862, known as the Morrill Act, creating land-grant colleges and enabling the institution to obtain federal funds for its original schools of agriculture and mines.

In the early days, there were more students in the preparatory department than in the University proper, and the number of University graduates was never more than ten a year. Then came a decade of rapid expansion. The territory became a state, high schools multiplied, and the preparatory department was closed. In 1915, the University was reorganized into three colleges - the College of Agriculture; the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences (later Liberal Arts); and the College of Mines and Engineering. The Arizona Bureau of Mines was established the same year.

In 1922, the College of Education was organized and, in 1925, offerings in law, originally established in 1915, were organized under the College of Law. The School of Business and Public Administration, established in 1934, became a separate college in 1944. In 1934, the Department of Home Economics was enlarged to a school within the College of Agriculture, and the College of Fine Arts, including the School of Music, and the Graduate College were established. In 1940, the Board of Regents reorganized the College of Mines and Engineering into two separate colleges, and in 1967 the School of Earth Sciences was organized within the College of Mines, becoming the College of Earth Sciences in 1971. In 1947, the School of Pharmacy was organized, becoming the College of Pharmacy in 1949. The Board of Regents authorized the establishment of the School of Nursing in 1956, which became the College of Nursing in 1963. The Department of Architecture, created in 1958, became the College of Architecture in 1964. In 1961, the College of Medicine was authorized by the Board of Regents. In 1974, the School of Renewable Natural Resources was approved as a new unit of the College of Agriculture. The School of Health Related Professions was authorized by the Board of Regents in 1977. In 1982, the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Fine Arts were reorganized into the College of Arts and Sciences, which included the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences. In 1984, departments under the College of Earth Sciences were reorganized under the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering, and the School of Home Economics was renamed the School of Family and Consumer Resources. In l985, the College of Mines combined with the College of Engineering to become the College of Engineering and Mines. In 1993, the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, the Department of Medical Technology, and the School of Health Related Professions merged to form the Arizona Health Sciences Center. In 1995, each of the four Arts and Sciences faculties - Fine Arts, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Science - were given college status. In 1996, the name of the School of Health Related Professions was changed to School of Health Professions. In 2000, the College of Public Health was established by the Arizona Board of Regents

The 40-acre campus of the 1890s has grown to 356 acres and 157 buildings. Its purpose remains, in the language of the original law, "to provide the inhabitants of this state with the means of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the various branches of literature, science, and the arts," and, insofar as possible, to provide a technical education adapted to the development of Arizona's resources. The University is maintained by funds appropriated by the State of Arizona and the United States government, and by tuition, fees, and collections, including private grants from many sources.