Keene State's history of training future educators is well-documented and dates back to 1909, when Keene Normal School opened with a mission to educate young women in the area. These graduates were able to pursue teaching internships in and around Keene. Having unpaid student educators teach children was a boon for taxpayers, reducing the financial burden on public education.
Early Keene Normal School students studied education, pedagogy, liberal arts and science. A confluence of historical events, including devastating hurricanes, world wars, and the Great Depression, placed tremendous and unexpected pressure on the organization.
But the school persevered, capitalizing on its evolving and growing liberal arts program and reputation, evolving into Keene Teachers College in 1939. Twenty-four years later, the school transitioned again, this time to Keene State University. The number of students at that time was approximately 1,000. Among the first class of students to attend and graduate from the university under its new current name was Betsy Coll '67, who used her degree to become a physical education teacher. Her extraordinary teaching career spanned her 34 years.
From 1909 to today, Keene State University has launched thousands of educational careers here in New Hampshire, across the nation and around the world. School leaders, principals, early education center directors, and especially teachers in numerous public schools, private academies, charter schools, and corporate child care centers.
Keene State University and its educator preparation programs claim many distinctions, not least of which is national accreditation, which has been maintained since 1954, and 14 of its undergraduate programs are recommended for NH licensure. It provides a way to recommend to the NH Department of Education. . Of all teacher preparation programs in the country, only one-third are nationally accredited.
Many of New Hampshire's educator preparation programs are state-approved, but only Keene State University and the University of New Hampshire are approved by the Council on Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).
Deep and lasting partnerships between the university and local schools. Depth and tenure of caring faculty. Graduate program options. A high employment rate is also a feature of this program.