Approval of a Teachers College at the University of Nebraska in 1908 was a major step toward professionalizing the state’s teachers. Since then, more than 30,000 educators have earned degrees from the college. Teachers College alumni reside in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and in 73 countries outside the United States. As many as half of its graduates, however, remain in Nebraska.

The establishment of the college was controversial. Some at the university wished to emphasize subject matter education within the College of Arts and Sciences. Some legislators believed teacher preparation was the sole province of the state’s normal college in Peru. But teacher education existed at NU long before the college was established.

Early on, the university’s entrance requirements shaped secondary education in Nebraska. The university essentially accredited the state’s high schools; and its faculty led efforts to upgrade public education. Still, poorly prepared teachers were common and by 1892, the university began offering summer programs to teachers, with a Department of Pedagogy established in 1895. In 1901, Pedagogy became the Department of Education.

On Feb. 14, 1908, the NU Regents elevated the Department of Education into a college whose aim was to promote “the history, theory and practice of teaching generally, to improve the quality of secondary teaching in particular and to provide thoroughly prepared teachers for these schools.”

For many years, the college’s main focus was teacher preparation – both on and off campus. More recently, Teachers College faculty assumed the dual roles of educating teachers and administrators, as well as conducting research leading to the improvement of teacher education and in-service practices. This professional growth has served the state by providing well-educated graduates who are able to implement in their classrooms the latest methods to enhance student learning.

In 2003, Teachers College and the College of Human Resources and Family Sciences came together to create UNL’s College of Education and Human Sciences. The college is one of just a handful nationally that combines the fields of teacher education; educational psychology; individual and family development; consumer sciences; counseling; leadership and administration; nutrition and health; special education; communication disorders; and textiles, clothing and design into a single entity. The college has 63 undergraduate program, 38 graduate programs and is the largest in the state to confer education degrees.

With an enrollment of 2,595 undergraduate students, 1,000 graduate students and 89 faculty members, the College observes its centennial by celebrating 100 years of Innovation in Education.