Murray State College


Murray State College is a public community college in southeastern Oklahoma with the main campus located in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The college is named in honor of former Oklahoma Governor William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray.
Murray State College also maintains a smaller campus in Ardmore, Oklahoma as one of four state higher education institutions that participate at the University Center of Southern Oklahoma.

History

Murray State College was established as the Murray State School of Agriculture in accordance with a law passed by the first Oklahoma Legislature. Its first students, numbering about 100, were primarily Chickasaw and Choctaw. Federal funding paid for two dormitories opened in 1916 for Native American students. On March 17, 1924, the Oklahoma Legislature approved a measure to enable the institution to teach the first two years of higher educational instruction, and it became a community college, granting its first associate degrees in 1924.
Alfalfa Bill Murray's nephew, Clive Murray, became president of the school in 1931 and remained until 1961. The school was renamed Murray State Agricultural College in 1955, and then Murray State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in 1967.
In 1972, the school was removed from the authority of the Board of Regents for Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges and given its own board of regents; in connection with this, the school was renamed Murray State College.

Academics

Murray State College offers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of Applied Science degree programs.

Alumni