President Arroyo signed into law Republic Act No. 9456 on May 15, 2007, which declared the elevation of the BSC into a university. She signed the Act three months after the Senate approved the proposal on February 19.
The signing also came a month after nine graduates of BSC's School of Law, the first law school in the province, passed the 2006 bar examinations.
BSC projects itself as the "heart of teacher education in Mindanao."
The new university, to be called Bukidnon State University, is the province's second university after Bukidnon Agricultural School was converted into what is now known as Central Mindanao University in 1965. The BSC opened in the central Mindanao province as Bukidnon Normal School in 1924.
A staff at the BSC administration office told MindaNews Friday via telephone the inauguration rites will be on June 14. Current college president Dr. Victor M. Barroso will become the first university president.
According to its website, BSU "shall primarily provide advanced education, higher technological, professional instruction and training in the fields of education, arts and sciences, public administration, information technology, accountancy, law and other relevant fields of study. It shall also promote research and extension service, and provide progressive leadership in its areas of specialization. "
As of November 12, 2006, Bukidnon State College has seven schools, including the schools of Graduate Studies, Law, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration and Information Technology, Education, Community Education and Industrial Technology, School of Nursing, and Laboratory Schools for pre-school, elementary and secondary education.
In 1924, BSC started as a two year secondary school known as Bukidnon Provincial Elementary School. Four years later, it started to offer a four-year secondary normal curriculum.
In 1976, Presidential Decree 944 converted BNS into Bukidnon State College.
