History
As the first secretary of the newly created Board of Education in Massachusetts, Horace Mann instituted sweeping school reforms. A centerpiece of these changes was the creation of an experimental normal school, the first one in the United States, in Lexington, in July of 1839, with Cyrus Peirce as its first principal or president. A second normal school was opened in September of 1839 in West Barre (which later moved to Westfield) followed by a third the next year in Bridgewater. Growth forced the first normal school's relocation to West Newton in 1843, followed a decade later, in 1853, by a move to the present site on Bare Hill in Framingham.
In 1922, the Framingham Normal School granted its first Bachelor of Science in Education degrees in conjunction with a four-year study program. Ten years afterward, with degreed teachers becoming the norm, the normal schools were renamed State Teachers Colleges. This was changed again in 1960 to the State College at Framingham when Bachelor of Arts degrees were added. At present, Masters' of Education, Arts, and Science degrees are granted as well. In 2007, the college began offering the Master's of Business Administration (MBA) degree. In October 2010, seven of the state colleges become state universities, unaffiliated with the University of Massachusetts system. The measure was signed into law by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on July 28, 2010.
Read more about this topic: Framingham State University
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