Southern Arkansas University (SAU) (formerly known as Southern State College, Magnolia A&M, and Third District Agricultural School) is a public four-year institution located in Magnolia, the seat of Columbia County in Arkansas, United States, not far from the Louisiana state line. Southern Arkansas University is located in Magnolia, which, as of the census of 2000, has a population of 10,858. The city is situated in the southwestern part of the state fifty miles east of Texarkana on U.S. Routes 79, 82, and 371. Southern Arkansas University was established by an Act of the Arkansas Legislature in 1909 as a district agricultural high school for southwest Arkansas and was originally named Third District Agricultural School, often called by students and faculty "TDAS." Its first term began in January 1911, with its curriculum including only subjects at the secondary school level. In 1925, the State Legislature authorized the school to add two years of college work and to change its name to Agricultural and Mechanical College, Third District (Magnolia A&M).