Harris–Stowe State University is a historically blackpublic university in St. Louis, Missouri. The university offers 50 majors, minors, and certificate programs in education, business, and arts & sciences. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. It is immediately east of the Saint Louis University campus. The school enrolled 1,630 students in 2019.
History
In 1857, St. Louis Public Schools established a normal school for white students; it was subsequently named Harris Teachers College, after William Torrey Harris, a former St. Louis superintendent of schools and United States Commissioner of Education. In 1863 philosopher Anna Brackett became principal of the school, and it became the first normal school led by a woman in the United States. In 1920, it was authorized to issue a four-year Bachelor of Arts in Education degree. In 1890, the St. Louis school system established Sumner Normal School to train black teachers. In 1929, its name was changed to Stowe Teachers College, after author Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, had promoted the abolitionist cause in the antebellum United States. The U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education mandated integration of public-school systems. In response to this, Harris and Stowe Colleges were merged into one institution, which retained the "Harris Teachers College" name. At the behest of Stowe alumni and other St. Louisans, the name "Stowe" was added, and the school became Harris-Stowe College. In 1979, the college was added to the state system of public higher education, under the name of Harris-Stowe State College. Its four-year education degree was changed to a Bachelor of Science in Education. It subsequently expanded its programs to offer several new degrees in education, including the B.S. in Urban Education, designed to enable non-teaching urban education personnel to address problems specific to urban schools; and a degree in Business Administration with various professional options. In 2005, the college attained university status, and was renamed Harris–Stowe State University.
Academics and accreditation
Academics
The Department of Academic Affairs comprises comprises three academic units:
Harris-Stowe State University is ranked #55-#70 in Regional Colleges Midwest in 2020 by U S News & World Report.
Student activities
Student organizations
The Office of Student Engagement sponsors or hosts more than thirty activities or special interest clubs and approximately a dozen academic clubs and honor societies, several campus affiliate chapters of national organizations, and nearly 12 Greek organizations.
The Harris–Stowe State University Men's Basketball team won the American Midwest Conference championship in 2017 and 2018.
William L. Clay, Sr. Early Childhood Development/Parenting Education Center
The William L. Clay, Sr. Early Childhood Development/Parenting Education Center is an early childhood child care center that sits on the campus of Harris–Stowe State University. Harris-Stowe invested $11 million into the new facility that is used to train early learning professionals, provide parenting education, and high quality full day care for children. Harris-Stowe was awarded an FY09 Area Resources for Community and Human Services start-up and expansion grant to assist in the purchase of developmentally appropriate materials for the center's new infant/toddler rooms.
