Lasell University history

Lasell also offered two years of standard collegiate instruction as early as 1852 and is cited as having been the "first successful and persistent" junior college in the United States.

As an innovative institution, known for a radical approach to women's education at the time, Lasell also administered the Harvard exams and offered law courses for women. Its name later changed to Lasell Seminary for Young Women and, in 1874, governance was given to a board of trustees and Principal Charles C. Bragdon.

Military drill at Lasell Seminary, circa 1890

Special attention will be paid to the contributions of the early modern Tokugawa Shogunate, the Meiji period of cultural borrowing from the West, and the cultural nationalism of the Japanese empire until 1945.

Written by Donald Winslow in 1987, Lasell: A History of the First Junior College for Women includes information on people and events from throughout Lasell's history.

In 1997, Lasell opened its doors to men.

In 2000, Lasell Village, a vibrant living and learning retirement community sponsored by the College, was opened.

Lasell also began offering master's degrees in 2002.

In September 2010, a settlement was also filed in Suffolk Superior Court stipulating that Lasell would have to pay $191,314 to over 1,000 students over a conflict of interest in their Financial Aid Department.