This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of higher education in Idaho Falls. The path to that celebration began in 1887 when the Idaho Territorial Legislature passed a bill to establish the University of Idaho. The text of the bill stipulated that the new university be built “within a radius of four miles of Eagle Rock” (now Idaho Falls). After much discussion and political debate the university was built in Moscow and that bill, now known as the university charter, became part of the constitution of the State of Idaho. As part of the land-grant system of universities, the UI began to have research and extension centers throughout the state providing service to the local citizens on a variety of topics. In 1954, the Atomic Energy Commission opened the Nuclear Reactor Testing Station better know by its current name of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. In support of that laboratory, UI made higher education opportunities available to the lab’s employees by holding 8 classes for 114 students. In 1997, UI entered into a cooperative agreement with Idaho State University and now jointly operates the University Place campus. The UI in Idaho Falls continues its partnership with the INEEL and the local community by offering an average of 175 classes for nearly 500 students. With the graduating class of 2004, there have been 1435 graduates from the Idaho Falls Center at the bachelor’s and advanced degree levels.