The 1980s saw numerous changes come to the University, including major growths in enrollment and the campus' endowment. In 1980, enrollment exceeded 10,000 students for the first time in the institution's history, and by 1986 the University's endowment had grown from 4 to 14 million dollars as a result of the Prospectus III campaign. These advances would help the school stake out a renewed reputation in the coming century.

The campus also grew from the addition of several new buildings, including the Bryan School of Business and Economics Building, Ferguson Building, Cone Building, and the School of Health and Human Performance complex. The four Dining Halls attached to Spencer Residence Hall complex were also renovated during this period. The signs were all around of the University becoming a more modern institute of higher education.

Milestones...

1980 - Foust Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places