History
Mayville State University was established through its inclusion in the constitution in 1889, when North Dakota became a state. One of North Dakota’s original colleges, the institution was first known as Mayville Normal School. The number of normal schools (teachers colleges) had grown rapidly since their introduction into the field of American higher education soon after the Civil War. A land grant of 30,000 acres provided the basis for the establishment of the institution of higher education at Mayville, North Dakota. The present name, Mayville State University, was approved by the Legislature in 1987.
Classes began in 1890, and in the following spring, the second state legislature provided funds for a building. The first classes were held in “Old Main” in 1893.
From those beginnings, the college story is one of growth and progress. The year 1925 was a particularly significant year with the State Board of Higher Education giving the authority to grant a Bachelor of Arts in Education degree. The normal school thus automatically became a “teachers college,” providing general education and offering a four-year degree. From time-to-time additions have been made to the curriculum, and as enrollment has grown, new buildings have come to dot the campus.
In 1948, the B.A. degree in Education became a B.S. degree in Education with the first non-teaching Bachelor of Arts degree being offered in 1961. In the 1970s, the university established programs in business and computer information systems. In the early 1980s the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of General Studies were approved.
In 2016, Mayville State University was given authority to offer the first graduate degree program, beginning with the Master of Arts in Teaching. Later, the Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Education programs were added.
With more than 80 majors, minors, certificates, and degree programs, Mayville State contributes to North Dakota’s workforce by teaching in-demand workplace skills through traditional academic programming, such as bachelor’s degrees in special education, agribusiness, mathematics, communication, applied psychology, and biology while also offering bachelor’s degrees in high-need areas such as accounting, allied health, business administration, chemistry, early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, English, fitness and wellness, nursing, social science, sport coaching, sport management, and many pre-professional tracks.
Mayville State is recognized as one of the most affordable and best colleges offering online degrees and higher learning in the nation. Many of the programs offered at Mayville State University are offered on campus and also delivered at a distance or online. These include the Master of Education, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Applied Science degree in business administration; Bachelor of Arts degree in early childhood and English; Bachelor of Science in Education degrees in elementary education, early childhood education, special education, mathematics education, and physical education; Bachelor of Science degrees in agribusiness, accounting, business administration; mathematics; nursing, biology; Bachelor of University Studies; Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN-to-BSN) and Associate of Arts degrees in business management, early childhood, and university studies.