A teachers' college was established in Turvey Park in 1947 and an agricultural college in 1949. In 1971, following pressure from the Wagga Wagga community for a university, the teachers' college became the Riverina College of Advanced Education and was relocated to a site adjacent to the Wagga Agricultural College, with whom it amalgamated in 1975. In 1989, the College amalgamated with the College of Advanced Education at Bathurst to become Charles Sturt University. The Wagga Wagga Base Hospital became the major referral hospital in southern New South Wales and in 1963 a new seven-story hospital was constructed.