Location & Contact Information

Address:
601 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27110
Main Phone: (336)750-2000
Main Contact: Angela Peterson-Beatty
Website:http://www.wssu.edu/

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Winston-Salem State University

     Winston-Salem State University is a bold, vibrant and diverse academic community that fosters the creative thinking, analytical problem-solving, and depth of character graduates need to transform themselves and their world. These values embody our motto, “Enter to Learn. Depart to Serve."

Quick Facts

Undergrad Population: 4260
Graduate Population: 516
Student Body: Coed
In State Tuition: $4545
Out of State Tuition: $8391
Room & Board: $0
Applications Due: May 1st ($50)
 Conference: Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Mascot: Ram
Accreditations:
Online Classes: yes
Percent Men: 39%
Percent Women: 61%

Online Admissions Application:

https://www.wssu.edu/admissions/apply/index.html
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Majors Offered

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

-Art + Visual Studies
-English
-Liberal Studies
-Music
-World Languages & Cultures
-Diggs Gallery

Faculty of Business

-Accounting, Economics and Finance
-Management, Marketing, and MIS
-Master of Business Administration

Faculty of Education

-Birth/Kindergarden Education
-Elementary Education
-Teaching
-MA in Teaching
-Health, Physical Education and Sports Studies
-Mathematics Science Education Network

Faculty of Natural and Physical Sciences

-Biological Sciences
-Chemistry
-Computer Science
-Mathematics

Faculty of Social Sciences

-Behavioral Sciences
-Communication and Media Studies
-History, Politics and Social Justice
-Psychological Sciences
Sports & Extra Curricular Activities
Choir, Choral Groups, Dance, Faith-based Organizations, Fraternities, Honors Program, Jazz Band, Marching Band, Professional Associations, Radio Station, Social Clubs, Sororities, Student Newspaper, Television Station
College History
     Dr. Simon Green Atkins distinguished himself in his home state of North Carolina as an advocate of teacher-training programs for African Americans. He founded a small school, Winston-Salem Teachers College, that he developed into Winston-Salem State University, a four-year institution, and oversaw its transition from private to state control. His abiding interest in teacher-training also led him to become a founder of the North Carolina Negro Teachers Association. The oldest child of a brick layer and former slaves Allen and Eliza Atkins, Simon Green Atkins was born on June 11, 1863, in the village of Haywood, in Chatham County, North Carolina, between Sanford and Raleigh. His town flourished during the period just after the Revolutionary War, but by the late 19th century the railroad and the neighboring town of Moncure had overshadowed it. At one time the area was considered as a location for the state capital as well as the state university. As a child, Atkins worked on a farm with his grandparents.
     Atkins studied in the town school under pioneer black educators who came from St. Augustine’s Normal and Collegiate Institute (later St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh). One of these was Anna Julia Cooper, later prominent for her work as an activist, scholar, feminist, and school administrator in Washington, D.C. This cadre of educators went out into remote communities to teach rural blacks. Atkins also taught at the town school for a while before his college years, and in 1880 he enrolled in St. Augustine’s. He spent summers teaching in the rural schools of Chatham and Moore counties. After he graduated with distinction in 1884, renowned educator and orator Joseph Charles Price, president of Livingstone College, an African Methodist Episcopal Zion church-supported institution in Salisbury, North Carolina, invited Atkins to join his faculty. Atkins agreed and became grammar school department head. He spent six years at Livingstone (1884–90) and spent the last two years of his tenure there in the dual role as educator and treasurer of the college. During summer months he conducted institutes for black teachers in various counties.
     The town educators of Winston (before its merger in 1913 with Salem to become Winston-Salem) lured Atkins to the post as principal of the Depot Street School, where he remained from 1890 to 1895. This was the state’s largest public school for African Americans. His work with the North Carolina Negro Teachers’ Association (NCNTA), which he helped to organize about 1881, had stimulated his interest in teacher-training schools for blacks. He directed this group as it established the foundation for a standard black teachers’ college in the state. Soon after he began his duties at Depot Street, he intensified his efforts to build such a school for African Americans and sought assistance from the Winston Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce, and local white residents. By then, the state had begun plans to fund an agricultural college for its African American residents; hearing this, Atkins sought funds to locate the new college in Winston. Local support for this move was good, as the black community donated $2,000, R. J. Reynolds of tobacco fame contributed $500, and Atkins obtained 50 acres (200,000 m2) of land along with the backing of the Chamber of Commerce. Although Atkins lobbied the state legislature in Raleigh on behalf of this plan, Winston and its residents lost out to nearby Greensboro, where citizens offered 14 acres (57,000 m2) of land and $11,000.
     The university was established by Dr. Simon Green Atkins in 1892 with funds donated by industrialist John Fox Slater. Chartered by the state of North Carolina in 1897 as Slater Industrial and State Normal School and renamed Winston-Salem Teachers College in 1925, it was the first African American institution in the United States to grant degrees in elementary teacher education.[citation needed] The name was changed to Winston-Salem State University in 1969, and it merged into the University of North Carolina system in 1972.
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Unique Programs
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News and Upcoming Events at Winston-Salem State University

ELETE Mentorship Program Launches Second Year at Winston-Salem State University
The ELETE Experience, Inc. (ELETE) is entering its second semester this Fall at Winston Salem State University with entrepreneurial mentorship and tra ...
Winston-Salem State University plans first full homecoming in four years
Last year’s event canceled due to hurricane threat WINSTON-SALEM, NC (Oct. 13 2023) – Winston-Salem State University is planning its first f ...
Winston-Salem State University is a Best College in America and the #1 HBCU in the Southeast for 'Best Bang for the Buck'
Winston-Salem State University was ranked by Washington Monthly magazine as the No. 1 HBCU in the Southeast for “Best Bang for the Buck” for the 2023- ...
Winston-Salem State University Promises Safety On Campus After Black Student Is Arrested For Challenging White Professor
Administrators at Winston-Salem State University, an HBCU, have pledged to "bring a resolution" after a Black student was arrested in a white professo ...
Suns' Chris Paul earns college degree from Winston-Salem State University
Chris Paul, one of the NBA’s pre-eminent point guards, walked on Friday morning. That is, he walked in the winter commencement at Winston-Salem Sta ...
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