Harrisâ€"Stowe State University is a historically black, public university located in midtown St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri. The University is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The fully accredited four-year institution offers 31 majors, minors and certificate programs in education, business and arts & sciences. Harris-Stowe ranked No. 1 in the state of Missouri and No. 47 in the nation in granting degrees in mathematics and statistics to African-Americans according to Missouri Department of Higher Education and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, a newsmagazine that has ranked institutions conferring the most degrees to minority students for the past 30 years. Harrisâ€"Stowe State University offers the most affordable bachelor's degree in the state of Missouri.
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 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 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 Harrisâ€"Stowe State University.
Academics and accreditation
Academics
Harrisâ€"Stowe State University comprises three academic units:
- Anheuser-Busch School of Business awards Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting; Business Administration with emphasis in: Entrepreneurship, Management and Marketing; Finance; Hospitality and Tourism Management; Health Care Management; Information Science and Computer Technology with emphasis in: Computer Technology, Management Information Systems and Computer Studies; and Marketing.
- College of Arts & Sciences programs lead to Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology with emphasis in Pre-medicine or Urban Ecology; Criminal Justice with concentrations in Law Enforcement and Juvenile Justice; Mathematics with three focus areas: Statistics, Applied Mathematics and Pure Mathematics; Professional Interdisciplinary Studies; and Urban Affairs with two areas of concentration: Urban Affairs and Public Administration.
- College of Education programs are for degrees of Bachelor of Science and State of Missouri certification in Educational Studies, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Middle School Education and Secondary Education.
Two fully online degree programs are available in Healthcare Management and Criminal Justice.
All degree programs at Harris-Stowe are dual level, with the first level emphasizing general education studies, and the upper level concentrating on professional studies.
Accreditation
Source:
Harrisâ€"Stowe State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
The Anheuser-Busch School of Business receives additional accreditation through the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education.
The School of Education receives additional accreditation through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
Student activities
Student organizations
The Office of Student Engagement sponsors or hosts more than thirty activity 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 (mostly in conjunction with other St. Louis area colleges and universities).
Athletics
Harrisâ€"Stowe State teams are known as the Hornets. The university competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as a member of the American Midwest Conference (AMC).
Harris-Stowe sponsors three men's and four women's teams in NAIA sanctioned sports:
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 Harrisâ€"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 (ARCHS) start-up and expansion grant to assist in the purchase of developmentally appropriate materials for the center's new infant/toddler rooms.
Notable alumni
- Arlene Ackerman, former superintendent of public schools in District of Columbia, San Francisco and Philadelphia
- David S. Cunningham, Jr., Los Angeles, California, City Council member, 1973â€"87
- Julius Hunter, retired television anchorman, former St. Louis University vice-president, author
- Bobby Wilks, U.S. Coast Guard aviator, first African-American promoted to Captain in the Coast Guard
References
External links
- Harrisâ€"Stowe State University official website
- Harrisâ€"Stowe State University official athletics website
