Rhode Island College (RIC) is a public college in Rhode Island, United States, with much of the land in Providence, and other parts in North Providence. The college was established in 1854 as the Rhode Island State Normal School, making it the second-oldest institution of higher education in Rhode Island after Brown University. Located on a 180-acre (73 ha) campus, the college has a student body of 6,000. RIC is a member of the NCAA and has 17 Division III teams.
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History
Rhode Island College was first established as the "Rhode Island State Normal School" by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1854. Its creation can be attributed to the labors of Henry Barnard, the first state agent for education in Rhode Island who had established the Rhode Island Teachers Institute at Smithville Seminary in 1845, and his successor, Elisha Potter. The Rhode Island State Normal School was one of the nation's first normal schools (teacher preparatory schools), which grew out of the humanitarian groundswell of the mid-19th century spurred by educational missionaries like Horace Mann. The school attracted hard working young people who came chiefly from ordinary backgrounds.