Brandon University is a university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, with an enrolment of approximately 3,375 (2020) full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, as Brandon College as a Baptist institution. It was chartered as a university by then President John E. Robbins on June 5, 1967. The enabling legislation is the Brandon University Act. Brandon University is one of several predominantly undergraduate liberal arts and sciences institutions in Canada.[4]

The university is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate (CUSID) and a member of U Sports. Brandon University has a student-to-faculty ratio of 11 to 1 and sixty percent of all classes have fewer than 20 students. In the 2015 Macleans rankings of primarily undergraduate universities in Canada, Brandon University was ranked 16th out of 19 overall and #1 in the student to faculty ratio category. The university press, The Quill, is a member of CUP.

History

Clark Hall.
The university has its origins in the McKee’s Academy, founded in 1890 by the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada (member of the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada). 

In 1899, the school was renamed Brandon College. The first principal of the college was A. P. McDiarmid. McKee's Academy, including its building on Rosser Avenue, was merged into the new institution. On July 13, 1900, the cornerstone was laid by Mrs. Davies for the first building of the present campus, at the corner of 18th Street and Lorne Avenue. This and the adjoining Clarke Hall later became Brandon University's administration buildings.

Brandon College, built 1900-01 and the adjoining Clark Hall (1905–06) designed by architect William Alexander Elliott, a 3 storey brick and stone complex are on the Registry of Historic Places of Canada. At this point Brandon College was a liberal arts college and offered some training in theology, secondary school classes, and a commercial department. A school of music was added in 1906.

The college remained affiliated with McMaster University between 1911 and 1938, and during this time the School of Music granted graduate diplomas in voice and piano.

Class enrolments were reduced during World War I as potential students signed up for military service. More than 200 Brandon College students served in the war; two of these won the Victoria Cross. A platoon from the college joined the Western Universities Battalion in France in 1916.

In 1922 college added a Science Building, and ceased offering commercial courses. Religious studies were integrated into the arts curriculum in 1928. After 1931, the college no longer taught Grade 9, 10, and 11 courses, but Grade 12 Department of Education courses were introduced and continued until 1955.

The Baptist Church ceased financing the institution in 1938 and the college became non-denominational. Funding to keep the college functioning was raised through public subscriptions, by an endowment from A. E. McKenzie, by tax levy from the City of Brandon, and through an annual grant from the government of Manitoba. The college became affiliated with the University of Manitoba; music courses as a credit to BA and BSc degrees were offered, and a Bachelor of Science program was implemented in 1939.

The COTC program was revived at the onset of World War II; once again enrolment dropped, as 234 Brandon College students joined Canada's armed forces. New bursaries and scholarships were introduced. At this point, the college had 14 faculty members and about 100 students. During the late 1940s, the social sciences were introduced.

Brandon College began training high school teachers in 1952, and elementary teachers three years later. The first graduates of the new Bachelor of Training program received degrees in 1971.

As part of a national program to expand universities and colleges, in the 1950s Brandon College increased its enrolment and by 1962 the Arts and Library Building, later named the A. E. McKenzie Building, the J. R. C. Evans Lecture Theatre, the steam plant, Darrach Hall (men's residence), and the dining hall were all completed.

In 1963 the college offered the first B.Mus. program in Manitoba, and the Music Building and Flora Cowan Hall (women's residence) were built. The School of Music developed a conservatory department and offered private tutoring. The Brandon University Gymnasium was opened in 1965.

A Manitoba Historical Plaque was erected in Brandon, Manitoba by the province to commemorate Brandon College's role in Manitoba's heritage.