Elizabeth City State University

Overview

Elizabeth City State University is a public historically Black university in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, enrolling nearly 2,500 students, established by the North Carolina General Assembly on March 3, 1891, as the State Colored Normal School at Elizabeth City, to train “teachers of the colored race to teach in the common schools of North Carolina.” Peter Weddick Moore served as its first leader. The school became a full four-year teachers college in 1937, renamed Elizabeth City State Teachers College, and awarded its first bachelor of science degrees, in elementary education, in 1939; within the following twenty-five years it added a vocational-technical program and thirteen academic majors. It gained membership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in December 1961, and its name changed again in 1963. Its historic campus quadrangle and six surrounding buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Recent History

The school was renamed Elizabeth City State University in 1969 to reflect its expansion into graduate programs, and became one of sixteen constituent universities of the newly formed University of North Carolina System in 1972. It is home to the only four-year aviation science degree program in North Carolina. In 2020 and again in 2026, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated a combined $57 million to the university, the largest gifts in its history.