Utah Valley University has had six names in 85 years, and each one marks a moment when the school outgrew the last. It started in 1941 as a wartime trade school in south Provo, became a technical college, a community college and a state college, and since July 1, 2008, has been a university. By fall 2025 it counted 48,670 students, more than any other school in Utah.
This is that story in order, drawn mostly from UVU's own history pages. For what the school is like to attend now, start with our BYU vs. UVU comparison. For the city around it, see our short history of Orem.
The six names at a glance
| Year | Name | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Central Utah Vocational School | War production training in south Provo |
| 1963 | Utah Trade Technical Institute | A permanent Provo campus, finished that year |
| 1967 | Utah Technical College at Provo | Associate degrees; land bought in Orem |
| 1987 | Utah Valley Community College | A broader community college mission |
| 1993 | Utah Valley State College | Its first bachelor's degrees |
| 2008 | Utah Valley University | Master's degrees and a university mission |
The 1963 and 1967 dates come from the Provo City Library's history of the school. UVU's past presidents page names "Utah Technical College at Provo" as a Sorensen-era change without giving a year, and UVU's history page says only that "the name of the college changed several times."
1941: a school built for a war
UVU's history begins with a nation getting ready to fight. In 1941, it says, the need for arms and ammunition "demanded skilled craftsmen," and many people who had worked in federal Depression programs needed more training to get better jobs. Vocational classes were scattered across shops and businesses in the Utah and Heber valleys under the State Vocational Office. In fall 1941, under Hyrum E. Johnson, a respected industrial arts teacher, they were moved to one location in south Provo and named Central Utah Vocational School.
The war almost killed the school when it ended. UVU says that after World War II, it lost 90 percent of its budget when war production training money was canceled. Then came a fight in the Legislature:
- 1943: a bill to make it a state-supported two-year vocational school passed the House and died in the Senate. Classes were cut.
- 1945 to 1947: the school received a $50,000 appropriation for operating costs. UVU's history says it "was strongly opposed by local two-year colleges and the two local universities," which saw a threat to their own state money.
- 1946 or 1947: the school became a permanent state institution. UVU's history page says 1947; its past presidents page says 1946.
Wilson W. Sorensen, the school's former purchasing agent, became director in 1945 according to the history page, or 1946 according to the presidents page. He would lead it for 37 years.
1945 to 1982: the Sorensen years
Sorensen gave the school a home, twice.
A Provo campus. Provo City, Utah County and the four local school districts bought a 13-acre site in Provo, UVU says, on the understanding that the state would pay for buildings. The Legislature appropriated $400,000 for the first phase in 1952, and the campus, at 1300 North University Avenue, was completed in three phases by 1963. It was designed for 1,200 students.
New names and degrees. According to the Provo City Library, the school became Utah Trade Technical Institute in 1963 and, in 1967, Utah Technical College, with authority to award associate degrees.
An Orem campus. The Provo campus filled fast. UVU says enrollment was nearing 1,000 in 1961 and nearly 2,000 by 1971, "far more than the campus could accommodate." The school bought 185 acres of farmland in southwest Orem next to Interstate 15; the library dates the purchase to 1967. The first phase, built with state and student money and a $1.5 million federal grant for landscaping, was dedicated in March 1977 with a business and administration building.
Sorensen retired in 1982 after 41 years at the school, 37 of them as its leader.
1982 to 1993: a community college
J. Marvin Higbee, the former president of Snow College in Ephraim, became the third president in 1982. UVU says he set out to broaden the school's image and scope, and in 1987 the Legislature renamed it Utah Valley Community College to match.
His successor, Kerry D. Romesburg, presided over the fastest growth in the school's history. UVU's two pages disagree on his dates: the presidents page lists him from 1988 to 2003, and the history page says he was appointed in 1988 but describes his tenure as "1991 to 2002." Under him, UVU says:
- The calendar changed. The college moved to semesters, the first state school to do so.
- The world came in. It became one of the first community colleges to sign an exchange agreement with the Soviet Union, followed by agreements in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Germany.
- Enrollment nearly tripled. About 8,700 students attended in 1991 and more than 23,000 in 2002.
1993 to 2008: a state college
The jump to four-year degrees came quickly. In 1992, UVU says, the Utah System of Higher Education and the Board of Regents proposed letting the college offer bachelor's degrees, and the first three were business management, computer science and information systems, and technology management.
In 1993 the regents renamed it Utah Valley State College, and the school received provisional accreditation from the Northwest accrediting association; full accreditation followed on June 22, 1994. By 2003 it offered 33 bachelor's programs and more than 50 associate degrees.
The campus grew with it. The David O. McKay Events Center opened in 1996, and in January 1997 a crowd of 8,063 set the single-game attendance record for a junior college team, according to UVU. A Wasatch Campus opened in Heber City.
William A. Sederburg, who had led Ferris State University in Michigan, became the fifth president. UVU's history page says he was chosen in 2002 and resigned in August 2008; the presidents page gives his years as 2003 to 2009. His goal was a university, and UVU says that required, among other things, a large new library. Two other markers of the era:
- Division I sports. The school received provisional NCAA Division I status and began Division I play in the 2003 to 2004 school year. It added wrestling, which UVU describes as the only program of its kind in Utah.
- University status. In February 2007 the Legislature voted unanimously to make Utah Valley State College a university effective 2008.
2008 to 2018: a university
On July 1, 2008, the school became Utah Valley University, and its new library held a ribbon cutting the same day. Sederburg left that August to become Utah's commissioner of higher education.
Matthew S. Holland became the sixth president on June 1, 2009. UVU's history credits his tenure with:
- Full Division I membership, granted July 7, 2009, then the Great West Conference, and on July 1, 2013, the Western Athletic Conference.
- Graduate programs: a Master of Education in 2008, nursing in 2009 and an MBA in 2010, growing to 11 master's programs by 2019.
- Structured enrollment, adopted in fall 2012 to keep UVU's open admission while raising expectations. Fall 2011 enrollment had reached 33,395.
- A 40-year master plan, including land in Payson and 250 acres in Vineyard, near the old Geneva Steel site.
- Roots of Knowledge, the 200-foot-wide stained glass panorama of human learning he commissioned in 2016.
Holland left in 2018 to serve as a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
2018 to now: Utah's largest
Astrid S. Tuminez, a former Microsoft executive born in the Philippines and a BYU graduate, became the seventh president in 2018, the first woman to serve as UVU's full-time president. Under her, enrollment kept setting records. UVU reported 48,670 students in fall 2025, including more than 1,000 graduate students for the first time, up from 46,809 in fall 2024 by the Deseret News's count.
The school's worst day came during her tenure. On September 10, 2025, the conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while appearing at an event on the Orem campus, the Associated Press reported. Our page marking one year since the shooting covers what followed on campus and in the courts.
Three changes came in 2026:
- A new president. Tuminez retired in May. On July 17, the Utah Board of Higher Education appointed Jon Anderson, a Utah native who had been president of Pennsylvania Western University, as UVU's eighth president.
- A new conference. UVU became a full member of the Big West on July 1, 2026; the Associated Press noted it gave the league a presence in Utah for the first time since Utah State left in 2005. Our UVU athletics guide covers every team.
- A new size. The fall 2025 count left UVU ahead of the University of Utah's 38,257, by the Deseret News's tally. UVU's figure includes high school students taking its concurrent enrollment classes, which is part of the school's mission; our page on the concurrent enrollment scholarship explains how that works.
What the history explains today
- Why UVU has trades and graduate degrees on one campus. It added each level without dropping the last; its history page still describes an "integrated dual mission."
- Why so many students are older. A school that started by retraining workers still serves them; our guide for UVU students 25 and older is written for that group.
- Why it sits beside the freeway. The 1960s purchase of farmland next to I-15 is why the main campus is in southwest Orem; our UVU commuter guide covers getting there.
- Why old records use other names. Diplomas, transcripts and documents from before July 2008 carry one of the five earlier names, all of them the same institution.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources
The facts in this guide were checked against these sources. Hours, fees and rules change, so confirm anything time-sensitive with the source before you go. How we make Provo.com.
- Historical Places: Utah Valley University, Provo City Library. Checked October 20, 2026.
- History of UVU, Utah Valley University. Checked October 20, 2026.
- Current and Past UVU Presidents, Utah Valley University. Checked October 20, 2026.
- Utah Valley University continues educating the most Utahns with new record enrollment (fall 2025), Utah Valley University. Checked October 20, 2026.
- Utah Valley University joins Big West Conference, Utah Valley University. Checked October 20, 2026.
- Utah public universities record enrollment (Oct. 2025), Deseret News. Checked October 20, 2026.
- UVU names Jon Anderson eighth president (July 17, 2026), Deseret News. Checked October 20, 2026.
- Utah Valley set to join Big West Conference for 2026-27 athletic year (AP), KJZZ. Checked October 20, 2026.
- Conservative activist Charlie Kirk dead after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University (AP), WBRZ. Checked October 20, 2026.
