region of Colorado. In 1964, Colorado State Senator Vincent Massari led the college's push to become a four-year university. Massari was instrumental in obtaining funds for a new campus in the Belmont area of Pueblo, moving from the old junior college campus on Orman Avenue.
==== 1975: University of Southern Colorado (USC) ====
As the demand for higher education programs increased, the number of academic degrees offered at the undergraduate and graduate levels increased. The first graduate program to be offered was the Master of Arts in Teaching with an emphasis in industrial education beginning in 1972. The institution was granted university status and renamed the University of Southern Colorado. In 1978, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education designated USC as a polytechnic institution. In 1985, USC was integrated into the newly created Colorado State University System (CSU System) with Colorado State University, Colorado's land-grant university, and Fort Lewis College. In 2002, Fort Lewis College chose …
