Lamar State College - Orange

Lamar State College–Orange was established as a lower-division extension center in 1969 and designated a component of the Lamar University System in 1983. The branch comprises a main campus and the Brown Center, the former mansion of Edgar W. Brown, Jr., on an eighty-seven-acre estate, now used for conferences and as a cultural and educational center for Southeast Texas. In 1991 the university received status from the Texas legislature as an independent degree-granting institution in the Lamar University System. Enrollment grew from 415 in 1974–75 to 1,300 in 1991, when the university had sixty-six faculty members and offered two-year associate degrees in academic and technical programs. Certificates of completion were awarded in several technical and occupational fields. Renovation of the main building and a student building was completed in 1992, when the university library held more than 25,000 volumes. The Lamar University System became part of the Texas State University System in 1995, and in 1999 Lamar University at Orange was renamed Lamar State College–Orange. Lamar State College–Orange is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In the fall of 2000 enrollment was 1,939, and the faculty numbered 114. J. Michael Shahan was president.