History
The history of the university can be traced to 1928 when San Angelo College was established, following a municipal election held in 1926. Organized as part of the city school system, the two-year college for many years occupied a site on North Oakes Street near the commercial center of the city. The voters of Tom Green County in 1945 created a County Junior College District and elected the first board of trustees. In 1947, the first building was constructed on the present university site.
The university has experienced a rapid transition from the status of a regional junior college to that of an accredited senior institution of higher learning. Pushed through the legislature by State Senator Dorsey B. Hardeman, a former mayor of San Angelo, the former San Angelo College was transformed into Angelo State College in 1965 by an act of the 58th Session of the Texas State Legislature in 1963. The transfer of authority from the Board of Trustees of the junior college to the Board of Regents, State Senior Colleges, became effective on September 1, 1965. In May 1967, the first baccalaureate degrees were awarded. Shortly after Hardeman retired from the Senate, the name of the institution was changed to Angelo State University in May 1969.
The graduate program was initiated in 1970 with the start of the university's College of Graduate Studies. During a major realignment of the Texas University systems Angelo State University was designated as a member of the Texas State University System in 1975, along with Sam Houston State University, Southwest Texas State University, and Sul Ross State University, when the 64th Texas Legislature changed the name of the governing board to Board of Regents, Texas State University System.
In the fall of 2007 the Alumni Association voted to request a movement to the Texas Tech University System from the Texas State University System. The merger received widespread support in San Angelo and Lubbock, where Texas Tech University is located. The bill was approved, signed by Gov. Rick Perry and voted into the Texas Constitution by the electorate making Angelo State University accountable to the Texas Tech System Board of Regents in late 2007.
Dr. Joseph C. Rallo, previously the Provost and Academic Vice President at Western Illinois University became the university's fourth President on June 1, 2007.
The first doctoral program, the Doctorate of Physical Therapy though the College of Nursing and Allied Health was offered in 2009.
Starting in Fall of 2009 Angelo State began offering classes in Boerne, Marble Falls, and Fredericksburg, Texas.
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