History
Southern Illinois University’s (SIU) interest in East St. Louis began on November 15, 1941, when the SIU Board of Trustees responded to the community’s request for more educational opportunities in the local area.
Classes began in East St. Louis in late September 1957 at the Morrison School. By September 1958, all classes were being held at the old East St. Louis High School. In 1965, the Edwardsville campus opened, and classes were offered at SIUE.
In 1966, SIUE officially began an East St. Louis special program named “Experiment in Higher Education” (EHE). This program was established through federal funding and provided financial support to disadvantaged students for their first two years of college. During those first two years, courses were offered through SIUE’s general studies program. EHE was a higher education program that committed faculty and resources required to establish and maintain a total program of college education for the disadvantaged students. The program was described by one program instructor as, “a program with an approach toward finally resolving (1) effective educational programming for low-income students and (2) development of a curricular process which promises to work for all freshmen and sophomore students regardless of economic or academic status.”
Over time, SIUE’s focus in East St. Louis extended to more community and human services programs and other educational opportunities for youth (i.e. Katherine Dunham Center for Performing Arts, child development, TRIO Upward Bound and Head Start/Early Head Start).
In 2001, a $27 million renovation and construction project began at the campus then known as the East St. Louis Community College Center, and a new home for the East St. Louis Center was a significant part of the plan. In July 2003, the East St. Louis Center completed its move to the new location–the East St. Louis Higher Education Campus–at 601 James R. Thompson Blvd. The campus consists of two newly constructed buildings and four renovated buildings. Sharing the property, which is now the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Campus, with SIUE is the East St. Louis Community College Center and other community partners.
