Augustana University is a private Lutheran university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The university identifies 1860 as the year of its founding, the same as its Rock Island, Illinois Swedish-heritage sister school, Augustana College. It derives its name from the Confessio Augustana, or Augsburg Confession, a foundational document of Lutheranism. Prior to September 2015, the university was known as Augustana College. It is the largest private university in the state and offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in more than 50 major fields of study. Students also participate in a variety of extracurricular activities, including musical ensembles and NCAA athletic programs. History The institution traces its origin to 1835, when Scandinavian immigrants established the Hillsboro Academy in Hillsboro, Illinois. In 1846, the Academy became the Literary and Theological Institute of the Lutheran Church of the Far West before moving to Springfield, Illinois, under the name Illinois State University. In 1860, after church leaders formed the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod, Professor Lars Paul Esbjörn and a group of followers moved to Chicago to create their own institution. There they established the Augustana College and Seminary, marking the date that the university identifies as the year of its founding. As the United States expanded westward during and after the American Civil War, pioneers moved the school to Paxton, Illinois, in 1863. There, a split occurred: the Norwegian leadership, desiring to create their own school, relocated to Marshall, Wisconsin, in 1869, while the Swedes later moved to Rock Island, Illinois, establishing Augustana College (Illinois). The school at Marshall moved to Beloit, Iowa, in 1881, and then to Canton, South Dakota, in 1888. The Lutheran Normal School opened in 1889 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, housed in what is now known as Old Main, with the purpose of educating teachers. City and business leaders lobbied for Augustana to relocate to Sioux Falls, and church leaders in 1918 merged the Lutheran Normal School and Augustana College in Canton under the name Augustana College and Normal School. In 1926, "and Normal School" was dropped from the name and the site in Canton eventually became Augustana Academy. Despite the similarities in name, the Academy was no longer affiliated with the College and ultimately closed in 1971. The 2010–2011 academic year marked Augustana University's sesquicentennial. Augustana draws its name from the origin of the Lutheran Church in the Augsburg Confession, written in 1530 during the Protestant Reformation. "Augustana"