AUBURN UNIVERSITY

public, coeducational institution of higher education located in Auburn, Ala., U.S. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, education, engineering, forestry, architecture, and arts and sciences. Degrees in pharmacy and veterinary medicine are also available. A branch campus in Montgomery includes undergraduate studies and schools of business, education, liberal arts, and sciences. Auburn University is home to the Space Power Institute. Total enrollment at Auburn University is approximately 21,000. A land-grant institution, Auburn University was chartered in 1856 and opened in 1859 as East Alabama Male College. Because of the American Civil War, the college was closed from 1861 to 1866. The Methodist church, which had supported it before the war, transferred control of the college to the state of Alabama in 1872. The school's name was then changed to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. Women were first admitted in 1892. The name was changed to Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1899, and finally to Auburn University in 1960. The Montgomery campus was created in 1967; instruction began in 1969. Architect William Spratling was an Auburn graduate.