In 1948, the University of Kentucky opened a branch campus in a few rented classrooms in a Northern Kentucky elementary school. This northern center evolved to become a full-fledged member of Kentucky's community college system. Twenty years after the school opened, a bill was signed into law transforming the two-year school into an independent, four-year institution, the Northern Kentucky State College. The college continued to grow, merging with the Chase School of Law. At the end of the first decade, the school's rapid expansion and commitment to meeting the educational needs of a growing community were recognized under a new name, Northern Kentucky University. Each year, NKU instructs about 14,000 students in disciplines ranging from forensic science to English literature. The university is breaking new ground in fields such as Underground Railroad research, and it offers graduate degrees in many areas, including law, business, and operational psychology. This pictorial volume charts the history of the institution and with it the growth of higher education in the region.