San Jose State University, also known as San Jose St. and SJSU, is the first university in the California State University system.
Campus
The main campus of San Jose St. is a rectangle in downtown San Jose, California, bordered by San Fernando Street (north), Fourth Street (west), San Salvador Street (south), and Tenth Street (east). The athletic fields, additional student housing and parking are located about two miles south on Seventh Street.
San Jose State was founded in 1857 as Minns' Evening Normal School, in San Francisco, California, and is the oldest public institution of higher learning on the West Coast of the United States. In 1862, the California legislature took possession of the school, renaming it the California State Normal School. The school moved to San Jose in 1871, becoming San Jose Normal School, and was given Washington Square Park at Fourth and San Carlos Streets to locate their campus, where it remains.
In1921, the legislature changed the school's name to San Jose Teachers Training College. In 1935, the name was changed again, this time to San Jose State College. In 1961, SJSC joined the California State College System (later the California State University (CSU) system). In 1972 SJSC was granted university status, and the name was changed to CSU, San Jose. In 1974 the name was changed again, this time to San Jose State University.
In1993, San Jose St. achieved cultural pluralism, with no ethnic majority on campus. In 1999, San Jose St. and the City of San Jose agree to combine thier libraries with a new City/University library located on campus, the first known such library in the world. The Martin Luther King Library opened in 2003
