Newberry College has been approved to change from Level II to Level III by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, which opens the door for it to offer graduate degrees in addition to traditional undergrad credentials.
Newberry will begin offering master’s degrees to students now that they have secured this approval.
“This level change is not only an historic step for Newberry College,” Newberry College President Maurice Scherrens said in a release July 9. “It’s a natural extension of our College’s mission, and a next step in our continued growth. Our mission includes preparing students to pursue their calling, their vocation.”
The first graduate program available will be the Master of Science in Organizational Development and Leadership, ABC Columbia reported.
The school was started in 1828, when it was originally an offshoot of the Lutheran Synod in South Carolina. John Bachman, president at the Synod, stated that there needed to be a seminary to train Lutheran ministers, which is what Newberry started as the following year.
While the school is only now officially approved to offer master’s degrees, between 1885 and 1928, the school awarded 54 master’s degrees.
Ella Dunn was the only female to earn a Master of Arts degree in chemistry and physics in 1928.
Master’s classes at Newberry College will begin in the fall.
