In 1963, Saginaw Valley College received a charter from the State Board of Education to begin as a private institution.

Saginaw Valley College held its first classes in 1964 at Delta College with an enrollment of 119 and tuition fee of $20.00 per hour. In 1965, legislation was passed making Saginaw Valley College a state institution which dropped tuition to $8.50 per credit hour. It was not until 1975 that the Michigan Legislative act re-named the college Saginaw Valley State College. Not until 1967 did the college obtain the attractive campus grounds it now occupies. The first and only building at the time was the 66 building which housed all the classes and offices.

Ted Nitz, Personal Counselor and Bowling Coach, who had been with the college since the beginning witnessed the rapid growth from its single building to the 782 acres and over 20 buildings in 1983. Nitz said that SVSC was unique because it was a ".place where students influence the growth and development of programs...its not like other schools that have already been established for a hundred years and the students must fit in to who had been there. The students here are part of the growth of the school. The students have a lot of input."

Meanwhile, SVSC broke ground for Instructional Facility No. 2 consisting of three buildings including Maurice E. Brown Hall, the Science Building, and Melvin J. Zahnow Library. The $28.4 million project took two years to complete and added 208,399 square feet of learning space to the college.

While there had been many economic problems sometimes slowing the progression of SVSC's expansion plan, it seemed that growth and planning never ceased. Dr. Jack Ryder, SVSC President, was quoted saying, "We need to conceive ourselves as challenged..and we need to plan confidently about our future."

Confidence and pride engulfed this year of the 20th anniversary.

Source: The Valley Vanguard, September 12, 1983.

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Last modified April 24, 2001