Western New England University is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts. Academic programs are provided through its College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Engineering, School of Law, and College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. In recognition of its master's and doctoral programs, the institution officially changed its name from Western New England College to Western New England University on July 1, 2011. This marked the return of "university" to the school's name, exactly 60 years after separating from Northeastern University. It had long been classified as a university. History The Springfield Division of Northeastern College, known as Springfield-Northeastern, was established in 1919. Evening classes, held in the YMCA building on Chestnut Street in Springfield for students studying part-time, were offered in law, business, and accounting. In 1922, the school's first 13 students were awarded the degree of Bachelor of Commercial Science. The first seven law graduates were recognized in 1923. In 1951 the Springfield Division of Northeastern University became Western New England College. The college was chartered on July 17, 1951. On April 26, 1956, for the current Wilbraham Road campus were purchased. In that same year the first day program was started; it was in engineering, with 53 students enrolled. The first building, originally known as East Building and later renamed Emerson Hall in recognition of the college's first trustee chairman, opened in 1959. The college's charter was expanded in 1959 to permit the college to grant the bachelor's degree in any field of business administration, science, engineering, education, and law, and certain master's degrees. The charter was expanded in 2005 to include the LL.M. in Estate Planning and Elder Law, and again in 2008 with the inclusion of the Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis. The School of Arts and Sciences was established in 1967, and the college received accreditation as a general purpose institution in 1972. The 1960s through the 1990s saw the college's academic programs expanding, its student body growing, and the addition of a number of buildings, including the D’Amour Library, the Blake Law Center, the St. Germain Campus Center, the Alumni Healthful Living Center, and the LaRiviere Living and Learning Center. In 2001, the Evergreen Village townhouses opened for seniors. The Kevin S. Delbridge Welcome Center, which houses the admissions offices, opened in 2002. In 2003, Commonwealth Hall and the Golden Bear Stadium opened. The George Trelease Memorial Baseball Park was completed