Winston-Salem State University Revenue and Competitors

Winston-Salem State University was founded as the Slater Industrial Academy on September 28, 1892. It began in a one-room frame structure with 25 pupils and one teacher. In 1895, the school was recognized by the state of North Carolina, and in 1897 it was chartered by the Slater Industrial and State Normal School. From the beginning, the school has insisted upon the vital importance of elementary school teachers in any program of building an improved citizenship. Emphasis has, therefore, constantly been placed upon the quality and quantity of training for these teachers. In 1925, the General Assembly of North Carolina recognized the school's leadership in this field; granted the school a new charter, extending its curriculum above high school; changed its name to Winston-Salem Teachers College; and empowered it under authority of the State Board of Education to confer appropriate degrees. Winston-Salem Teachers College thus became the first Negro institution in the nation to grant degrees for teaching in the elementary grades.