Schreiner University

Schreiner Institute was founded by Charles A. Schreiner, who, on December 31, 1917, placed in trust for the Presbyterian Synod of Texas $250,000 and 140.25 acres of land in Kerrville. Schreiner stipulated that one year after the end of World War I the synod was to use the trust to establish a preparatory school and junior college. On December 27, 1921, the institute's trustees, recently appointed by the synod, formally received the trust. Steps were taken immediately thereafter to construct three buildings on the land. In 1922 the trustees selected James J. Delaney as president and a faculty was organized. In September 1923 the school opened with a student body of about 100. The institution remained all male until 1932, when female students were admitted to the junior college as day students. Schreiner Institute continued to offer high school and junior college courses along with required military instruction until 1957, when the military training was omitted from the preparatory school and became optional for those enrolled in the junior college. In 1969 the military science department was closed altogether. In 1973 the preparatory school was closed, the college curriculum was expanded, and the name of the school was changed to Schreiner College. In 1982 Schreiner became a four-year institution; its first baccalaureate degrees were granted in 1984. In 1985 it had a faculty of thirty and a student body of approximately 500; by the fall of 1999 these totals had climbed to seventy-one faculty and 803 students. In 2001 the board of trustees voted to change the school's name to Schreiner University, and Charles T. Summerlin became president in June of that year. The college retained its ties to the Presbyterian Church but was funded through private gifts. Before his death in 1927 Charles Schreiner donated to the institute an additional $500,000. His sons Louis A. and Gustave F. Schreiner donated more than $3 million between 1950 and 1965. Gustave Schreiner's estate also provided a permanent endowment for the college.