--- title: Coker College Begins Operating as Coker University description: Effective today, July 1, 2019, Coker College will begin operating as Coker University. --- # SEARCH COKER.EDU [![](https://blogs.coker.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/images/coker-logo.png?width=266&height=85&name=coker-logo.png "coker-logo.png")](https://coker.edu/) - [Campus Bookstore](http://bookstore.coker.edu/home.aspx) - [Visit Coker](https://coker.edu/visit) - [Giving](https://coker.edu/after-coker/give-coker) - [Media](https://coker.edu/news-stories) - [Contact Us](https://coker.edu/contact-us) ![Coker University Logo](https://blogs.coker.edu/hubfs/2022%20Images%20and%20Icons/coker-university-logo.svg) - [About](https://coker.edu/about-coker) - [Why Coker?](https://coker.edu/why-coker/) - [Academics](https://coker.edu/academic-programs) - [Admissions & Aid](https://coker.edu/admissions-aid) - [Student Experience](https://coker.edu/student-experience) - [After Coker](https://coker.edu/alumni) - [Athletics](http://www.cokercobras.com/landing/index) [Prospective Students](https://coker.edu/admissions-aid) - 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[Admissions & Aid](https://coker.edu/admissions-aid) - [Student Experience](https://coker.edu/student-experience) - [After Coker](https://coker.edu/alumni) - [Athletics](http://www.cokercobras.com/landing/index) - [Visit Coker](https://coker.edu/visit) - [Giving](https://www.coker.edu/giving-form/) - [Contact Us](https://coker.edu/contact-us) # Coker College Begins Operating as Coker University ## Coker College Begins Operating as Coker University ADDITIONAL MENU - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Jul 01, 2019 [Coker College](https://blogs.coker.edu/news-stories/author/coker-college) ![Coker University proclamation](https://blogs.coker.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/Coker%20University%20proclamation.jpg?width=300&name=Coker%20University%20proclamation.jpg)Hartsville, S.C. – July 1, 2019 – Effective today, Coker College will begin operating as Coker University. The City of Hartsville issued a proclamation that today, July 1, 2019, is Coker University Day. Coker College’s new university status reflects the institution’s recent growth and increased diversity of degree offerings. Coker currently has five online master’s degree programs and grants bachelor’s degrees in over 40 subject areas, including four undergraduate degrees that can be earned entirely online. As Coker University, the value of a Coker degree is more clearly indicated to both international and domestic audiences, and the breadth of opportunities available to Coker students is now implied in the institutional name. “In my 10 years as president of Coker, I’ve seen this institution respond with passion and purpose to the changing needs of our students and higher education in general,” says Dr. Robert Wyatt, president of Coker University. “Transitioning to Coker University is a natural next step as we continue to implement innovative ways of helping our students achieve their personal best.” Coker University’s newly shifted academic structure includes Coker College of Humanities and Sciences with Dr. Andrea Coldwell as dean, the School of Business with Dr. Andrew Burkemper as dean, the School of Visual and Performing Arts with Professor Angela Gallo as dean, and the Wiggins School of Education, which was founded in 2012, with Dr. Karen Carpenter continuing as dean. In 1894, Major James Lide Coker and the Welsh Neck Baptist Association opened Welsh Neck High School, a coeducational boarding school, on what would become Coker’s campus. When the public high school act eliminated the need for Welsh Neck High School, the grounds transitioned in 1908 to become Coker College for Women. Coker College officially became a coeducational institution in 1969 and dropped “for Women” from its title. Most recently, in the fall of 2018, the Coker College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to change the institution's name to Coker University, effective July 1, 2019. Following that decision, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education reclassified Coker from its “Baccalaureate Colleges, Diverse Fields” category, to the category of “Masters Universities, Smaller Programs.” The crux of a Coker education still centers around personalized, discussion-based learning and the values of the university’s student covenant: integrity, respect, scholarship, sustainability, service, and contribution. Coker’s May 2019 commencement ceremony was the last for Coker College. December 2019 graduates will be the first to receive degrees from Coker University. For more information, please visit [www.coker.edu](http://www.coker.edu/).   ### ### ABOUT COKER COLLEGE Coker University is a student-focused, comprehensive university with a strong liberal arts core located in Hartsville, South Carolina. Coker combines round table, discussion-based learning with hands-on experiences to encourage active participation in and out of the classroom. A supportive, close-knit community prepares Coker students with the confidence and practical life skills they need to reach their personal best, in college and beyond. Founded in 1908, Coker is a bachelor’s and master’s degree-granting institution and competes in 21 NCAA Division II sports. Coker is included among the "Best Colleges" in the South by U.S. News & World Report as well as The Princeton Review, and by Washington Monthly as a “Best Bang for Your Buck” college in the southeast. ![](https://blogs.coker.edu/hubfs/2022%20Images%20and%20Icons/coker-university-logo--footer.svg "coker-logo-btm.png")   [COKER UNIVERSITY — 300 E. College Ave., Hartsville, SC 29550](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Coker+College/@34.3765787,-80.0726719,17z/data=!4m7!1m4!3m3!1s0x885575dc095a0ce1:0x26550cd394646c1c!2s300+E+College+Ave,+Hartsville,+SC+29550!3b1!3m1!1s0x885575db8a0db6d7:0x3b89353863175f3d) 1 (800) 950-1908   |   (843) 383-8000 © Copyright 2016   |   Privacy Policy