University of Mary Washington - History

History

On March 14, 1908, Virginia Governor Claude A. Swanson signed into law legislation for the establishment of the new State Normal and Industrial School for Women. The institution was renamed Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washington, mother of the first president of the United States of America, George Washington and longtime resident of Fredericksburg.

In 1944 the college became associated with the University of Virginia as its women's college. Until that time, the University of Virginia had not admitted women as undergraduates, except in its education and nursing programs; its postgraduate programs were also coeducational. Following UVA's transition to coeducational status in 1970, the Virginia General Assembly reorganized Mary Washington College in 1972 as a separate, coeducational institution. Today the university is the only public, coeducational college in the United States named after a secular woman.

The General Assembly of Virginia enacted legislation changing the college's name to University of Mary Washington on March 19, 2004. The institution sought university status to reflect the addition of master's degree programs and increasing enrollment at its College of Graduate and Professional Studies, formerly the James Monroe Center for Graduate and Professional Studies, located in nearby Stafford County. Students can earn an MBA, M.Ed., MSMIS, MBA-MSMIS dual degree, BPS or other graduate certificates or professional certifications at the campus. The Carnegie Foundation reclassified the college to university status based on its graduate programs.