Southern New Hampshire University, also known as SNHU, is a private university in Manchester and Hooksett, New Hampshire. The university is accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and also has numerous additional specialized accreditations for its schools and programs. The university was founded in 1932 by Harry A.B. Shapiro and Gertrude Crockett Shapiro (his wife) as the New Hampshire School of Accounting and Secretarial Science. In 1961, it was incorporated and renamed New Hampshire College of Accounting and Commerce. The state of New Hampshire granted the college its charter in 1963, which gave it degree-granting authority. The first associate's degrees were awarded that year, and the first bachelor's degrees were conferred in 1966. The college became a nonprofit institution under a board of trustees in September 1968, and its name was shortened to New Hampshire College in 1969. The 1970s were a time of growth and change. The college moved from its downtown Manchester site to the now 300-acre (120 ha) campus on the Merrimack River in 1971.