Rhode Island College

Rhode Island College (RIC) is a public college in Rhode Island, which much of the land in Providence, and other parts in North Providence. The college was established in 1854 as the Rhode Island State Normal School, making it the second oldest institution of higher education in Rhode Island after Brown University. Located on a 180-acre campus, the college has a student body of 9,000: 7,518 undergraduates and 1,482 graduate students. RIC is a member of the NCAA and has 17 Division III teams. History Rhode Island College was first established as the Rhode Island State Normal School by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1854. Its creation can be attributed to the labors of Henry Barnard, the first state agent for education in Rhode Island who had established the Rhode Island Teachers Institute at Smithville Seminary in 1845, and his successor, Elisha Potter. The Rhode Island State Normal School was one of the nation's first normal schools (teacher preparatory schools), which grew out of the humanitarian groundswell of the mid-19th century spurred by educational missionaries like Horace Mann. The school attracted hard working young people who came chiefly from ordinary backgrounds. Not yet thoroughly convinced of the school's value, the General Assembly curtailed its financial support in 1857 and the school was moved to Bristol where it lingered until 1865 before closing. However, in 1869, the newly appointed state commissioner of education, Thomas W. Bicknell, began a vigorous personal campaign to revive the school. His efforts were rewarded in 1871 when the General Assembly unanimously voted a $10,000 appropriation for the school's re-opening in Providence.