University of Wisconsin-Superior history

The Superior Normal School, which evolved into the University of Wisconsin-Superior, welcomed its first students in 1896.

The school's first class graduated in 1897.

In 1909, the institution became Wisconsin's first normal school to offer a full-scale training program for the then-new idea of kindergarten.

In 1916, Superior Normal School earned accreditation for its academic programs.

Graduate degrees were authorized in 1947 and first offered in 1950. It also was the first to offer a four-year program for high school teachers beginning in 1923.

In 1950, it offered its first graduate degree, a master of arts in School Administration.

In 1951 the state board of regents changed the institution's name to Wisconsin State College–Superior to better reflect its expanding role.

Wisconsin's state colleges eventually were reclassified as universities, resulting in another name change in 1964 to Wisconsin State University–Superior.

The college started several graduate programs in education, including guidance and counseling, reading and school psychology, along with a Specialist in Education degree in 1965 to further the professional training of school principals, district superintendents and business managers.

In January of 1966, the radio station was licensed through the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

In 1971 it became part of the University of Wisconsin System and assumed its present name.

One of his former students, John Munson, eventually took over the position as Station Manager in 1990.

In 1998, UW-Superior was designated Wisconsin's Pubic Liberal Arts College by the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.

Since its opening in 1999, the center has received more than $5 million in grants and endowments.

In 2001, the Wisconsin State Legislature approved an increase in UW-Superior's bi-annual budget to support the major and the research center with four faculty and a staff member.

In 2005 the research center joined with the University of Minnesota Duluth to form the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute (GLMRI) that now works with eleven affiliate universities in research on Great Lakes maritime subjects.

To respond to cuts in state funding, in 2018 UW-Superior suspended a number of academic programs, claiming the cuts were in order to encourage more students to graduate on time.