Fitchburg State University, also known as Fitchburg State, is a four year public institution of higher learning with a compact urban campus, located in the city of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Fitchburg State University has over 3,500 undergraduate and over 1650 graduate/continuing education students, for a total student body enrollment over 5200. The College offers Postgraduate certificates, Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees, and MBAs in more than 25 academic disciplines. The main campus, the McKay Campus School, and athletic fields comprise 79 acres (320,000 m²) in the city of Fitchburg; the biological study fields comprise 120 acres (490,000 m²) in the neighboring towns of Lancaster, Leominster, and Lunenburg. Fitchburg State University was founded as the State Normal School in Fitchburg in 1894 by the state legislature. Its first President was John G. Thompson (President 1895–1920). Initially a secondary education school for women (coeducation arrived in 1911), the Normal School was not authorized to grant Bachelor degrees until 1930, after the presidency of William D. Parkinson (1920–1927), and during Dr. Charles M. Herlihy's (1927–1945) tenure.