Snow College

Snow College was founded in 1888 by Danish settlers who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was originally called the Sanpete Stake Academy.

The first principal of the Academy was Alma Greenwood and the first teacher was Miss Marie Henry. They held classes on the upper floor of the Ephraim Co-op building on main street.

The Sanpete Stake Academy was founded entirely on local donations and had a rocky beginning. Newton E. Noyes served as the school’s principal from 1892 until 1921, giving his name for the administration building today. Because of financial struggles in 1900, Noyes asked for assistance from the LDS Prophet at the time who was Pres. Lorenzo Snow. The Prophet gave $2,000 and in an act of gratitude, the school’s name was changed to Snow Junior College in honor of both Lorenzo Snow and Erastus Snow, a close friend. In 1923, it became Snow College. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, the LDS church began to turn many of its schooling institutions over to the state. After a period of hesitation from the government, Snow College officially became a state college in 1932. Later, Governor J. Bracken Lee tried to turn the college back over to the church, but this decision was rejected by a two-to-one majority vote in November 1954. From 1951 to 1969, Snow College was a branch institution of the Utah State Agricultural College (Utah State University). Under Director Floyd S. Holm, who served from 1958 until 1974, the school made a transition from fighting for its existence to becoming a fully-fledged educational institution. Some of these changes included the addition of new buildings, such as an activity center. Snow College was the first 2-year college in Utah to have an honors program recognized by the state universities

Principals/Presidents of Sanpete Stake Academy/Snow College.

Alma Greenwood (1888-1891)

George Christensen (Probably 1891-1892)

Newton E. Noyes (1892-1921)

Wayne B. Hales (1921-1924)

Milton H. Knudsen (1924-1933)

Dr. I. Owen Knudsen (1933-1936)

James A. Nuttall (1936-1953)

Lester B. Whetten (1953-1956)

J. Elliot Cameron (1956-1958)

Floyd S. Holm (1958-1974)

J. Marvin Higbee (1974-1982)

Steven D. Bennion (1982-1989)

Gerald J. Day (1989-2001)

Michael T. Benson (2001-2006)

Scott L. Wyatt (2006-2014)

Gary L. Carlston (2014-2019)

Bradley J. Cook (2019-2022)

Stacee Yardley McIff (2022-Today)

Today, Snow College consists of two campuses: the original campus in Ephraim, and the Richfield campus (formerly the Sevier Valley Applied Technology Center). The college offers liberal arts, technical education programs, online degrees, short-term training, various Associate degrees and even two Baccalaureate four-year degrees. Snow College is also accredited by the Northwest Commision on Colleges and Universities and most other American colleges and universities.