Begun as an experimental teacher training school by the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1867, the Cook County Normal School registered 13 students in temporary quarters in Blue Island. In 1869 it moved to Englewood, where it stayed until 1972. When, in 1897, the county board decided it could no longer finance the school, the Chicago Board of Education took over what was renamed the Chicago Normal School. It remained a city institution, undergoing several name changes, until it came under state control in 1965, gaining the name Chicago State University in 1971. The 161-acre modern campus at 95th and King Drive was occupied in 1972 and includes dormitories.

Teacher education has remained a major focus, and expanding enrollments in recent years have enlarged the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business and Administration, and Health Sciences. The university grants bachelor's and master's degrees, offers a variety of nontraditional and innovative programs, and currently enrolls more than 9,000 students, mostly from the city of Chicago. African Americans have become the largest contingent of the student body. Service to first-generation college students, working adults, and minorities has remained a high priority.

Magne B. Olson