Fort Valley State University - History

History

Fort Valley State University (formerly Fort Valley State College) began with the 1939 consolidation of the Fort Valley High and Industrial School (chartered in 1895) and the State Teachers and Agricultural College of Forsyth (founded in 1902). The Fort Valley High and Industrial School, previously affiliated with the American Church Institute of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was transferred to state control and operation. Under the agreement, the work formerly carried on at the State Teachers and Agricultural College was consolidated with the work at Fort Valley High and Industrial School to form the Fort Valley State College.

In 1947 the state Board of Regents adopted a resolution moving the Land-Grant designation from Savannah State College to Fort Valley State College. In response to the Regents’ resolution, in 1949 the Georgia General Assembly officially designated The Fort Valley State College as the Land-Grant College for Negroes in Georgia. (Public education was segregated.)

In 1957, the college received full membership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and was one of the first of the HBCUs admitted. The college was accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) (1971) and the American Association of Veterinary Medicine (1979).

The school became Fort Valley State University, a State and Land-Grant University, in June 1996.