Wayne State College


Wayne State College is a public college in Wayne, Nebraska. It is part of the Nebraska State College System and enrolls 3,571 students. The college opened as a State Normal School in 1910 after the State purchased the private Nebraska Normal College. The State Normal College became State Normal School and Teacher's College in 1921. This was changed to Nebraska State Teachers College at Wayne in 1949 and the present name was adopted in 1963.

Academics

Wayne State offers 130 different programs of study in four Schools: Arts and Humanities, Business and Technology, Education and Counseling, and Natural and Social Sciences. Wayne State also offers classes at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska and through a satellite college in South Sioux City, Nebraska.

Athletics

Wayne State offers 13 NCAA Division II sports and is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in all sports. The mascot is the Wildcat. Men's sports include Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field. Women's sports include Basketball, Cross country running, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, Softball, Volleyball, and Soccer.
The college began participating in athletics in 1912, when the football program began. Men's basketball and track and field began around the same time. These were the main sports up to World War II, when Wayne State was a member of the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association with Kearney, Chadron, Peru, and for a while, Omaha University. After World War II, the NIAA became the Nebraska College Conference and Wayne State began to compete in baseball, cross country, golf, swimming, tennis, wrestling, and for a short period, boxing.
Before 1980, cross country, golf, indoor track and field, swimming, tennis, and wrestling were dropped. In 1997, women's soccer was added to the athletics program.

Notable alumni