I. About the College

Mission; History of the College

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Mission

As the comprehensive public college of southeastern Massachusetts, Bridgewater State College has a dual mission: to educate the residents of southeastern Massachusetts and the Commonwealth, and to use its intellectual, scientific and technological resources to support and advance the economic and cultural life of the region and the state.

History of the College

Bridgewater State College is one of the oldest public colleges in America, founded in 1840 as Bridgewater Normal School. Daniel Webster, former U.S. President John Quincy Adams and the great educator Horace Mann were among the early supporters of the school. The first class, consisting of seven men and twenty-one women, met in the old town hall in Bridgewater with a single instructor, Nicholas Tillinghast. In 1846, thanks to the generous donations of a quarter-acre of land from a town resident and funds from the State Legislature, the college received its first permanent home on the present-day quadrangle. That was the first building in America constructed to train teachers. As the college and the country grew up together, Bridgewater graduates traveled all over America and as far away as Japan, establishing schools and colleges.

A four-year course of study was first introduced in 1866, and in 1921 Bridgewater was authorized to award the bachelor of education degree. In 1933, the name of the college was changed to Bridgewater State Teachers College, which it remained until 1960 when a full-fledged, multipurpose liberal arts curriculum was begun and the Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred. The college’s graduate school opened in 1937.

Today, the full-time faculty number is approximately 252 men and women, the Visiting Lecturers average approximately 235, the full and part-time student body exceeds 9,000 students, and more than 100 undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs are offered. From a quarter-acre of land and a single building in 1846, the college has grown to 240 acres and 30 academic, administrative and residential buildings, all of them wired for high-speed voice, video and data transmission.

In September 1995, the college opened the John Joseph Moakley Center for Technological Applications, establishing Bridgewater as among the leading pioneer institutions in New England in education technology. Two years later, the MBTA completed construction of its Old Colony Boston-Middleboro/Lakeville commuter rail line station in the heart of the college campus, making Bridgewater more accessible to students from throughout the region (more than 80 percent of the college’s students come from this part of the Commonwealth). These and other developments are representative of the college with its proud history and an exciting future.

Last Modified: March 30, 2004