Type Public college Founder Benjamin Thompson Total enrollment 15,398 (2015) Phone +1 603-862-1234 | Established 1866 (1866) Acceptance rate 80% (2014) Football stadium Wildcat Stadium | |
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Other name University of New Hampshire Location Durham, New Hampshire, U.S. Address 105 Main St, Durham, NH 03824, USA Undergraduate tuition and fees Local tuition: 14,410 USD (2016) Subsidiaries University of New Hampshire at Manchester Notable alumni John Irving, Mike O'Malley, Richard M Linnehan, Corey Graham, Randal Williams Similar Southern New Hampshir, University of New Hampshir, Dartmouth College, University of Vermont, Keene State College Profiles | ||
New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts (NHC) was founded and incorporated in 1866, as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College. In 1893 NHC moved to Durham, where it became the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in 1923, by an act of the New Hampshire General Court.
History
The Morrill Act of 1862 granted federal lands to New Hampshire for the establishment of an agricultural-mechanical college. The state incorporated New Hampshire College in 1866 and opened the college in 1868 in Hanover. The institution was officially associated with Dartmouth College and was directed by Dartmouth's president.
Durham resident Benjamin Thompson left his farm and assets to the state for the establishment of an agricultural college. On January 30, 1890, Benjamin Thompson died and his will became public. On March 5, 1891, Gov. Hiram Americus Tuttle signed an act accepting the conditions of Thompson's will. On April 10, 1891, Gov. Tuttle signed a bill authorizing the college's move to Durham, New Hampshire.
Excited about the pending move to Durham, the Class of 1892 held commencement exercises in an unfinished barn on the Durham campus. On April 18, 1892, the Board of Trustees voted to "authorize the faculty to make all the arrangements for the packing and removal of college property at Hanover to Durham." In fall of 1893, classes began in Durham with 51 freshmen and 13 upperclassmen, and graduate study was established. In 1923 Gov. Fred Herbert Brown signed a bill changing the name of the college to "University of New Hampshire", despite pressure by state agriculture interests that had defeated a similar proposal in 1911.