Prior to this date, the Armenian Evangelical community of Beirut, to complement its high schools, had established two post-secondary educational entities: the Teacher's Training Institute, which was housed in the library of the Central High School and operated from 1948–51, and the Armenian Evangelical College, which held a Freshman Arts and Sciences program under the sponsorship of the First Armenian Evangelical Church of Beirut. These two entities merged in 1951 forming a Freshman Arts and Sciences plus a Sophomore Arts program, and they continued to serve the Armenian Community until 1955, when Haigazian College was established. Haigazian College was originally designed to function as a junior college offering two years of university-level education. However, a demand for upper-division classes encouraged the institution to develop four-year programs.