William Carey University history

After a fire destroyed this campus, W.S.F. Tatum acquired the property and in 1911, opened the school as Mississippi Woman's College.

In 1939, the school, which was then called the Mississippi Woman's College, took third place in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, and it remains the only women's college to ever place in that competition.

In 1954, the Board of Trustees, changed its name to William Carey College when the college became coeducational.

In 1968 William Carey entered a new era when it announced a merger with the Mather School of Nursing in New Orleans.

In 1976, the college purchased the Gulf Coast Military Academy campus in Gulfport.

In 1978, the State of California granted WCIU institutional approval to offer a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in International Development.

On August 14, 2006, William Carey University celebrated its Centennial.

In February 2007, Doctor Tommy King was named the ninth president of the university, the first alumnus to serve in the position.

In December 2008, The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools raised the institution to Level V status, which permits the granting of doctoral degrees.

In October of 2009 the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation granted provisional accreditation to the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

In the summer of 2010, a new facilities building was occupied and the College of Osteopathic Medicine enrolled an inaugural class of 110 students.

Track and field for men and women began in the fall of 2012.

In 2013, the University decided to focus its efforts on graduate programs and ceased enrollments in the Bachelor of Arts in International Development degree program.

In a further effort to refine the University’s mission, the Doctor of Philosophy degree program entered into a teach-out phase and ceased enrollments in 2015.