1940s: Becoming a College

In the 1940s, the Lesley School was on its way to becoming a full-fledged college.  The first Board of Trustees was established in 1941 to make Lesley a school of "collegiate caliber."

By 1943, the Lesley School became a four-year, not-for-profit educational institution and was authorized by the state of Massachusetts to be renamed Lesley College and given the right to confer the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education.  The first bachelor's degrees were conferred in June 1945; 5 out of the 23 graduating students received a B.S. in Education.  The Home Economics Department was abolished around the same time.  Three private elementary schools - the Lesley-Ellis, Dearborn and Carroll-Hall - were acquired to provide students a "Laboratory for Learning."  According to the Alumnae Association, there were already over 2,000 Lesley School graduates scattered all over the United States and the world.