In light of the expanding population of North Carolina and the growing impact of research and development corporations in the state's financial success, Governor Jim Hunt called for Governor's School to be expanded to a second campus in 1978. The second GS program was held on the campus of St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg. This doubled the number of students to 800. With the opening of this campus, the program in Winston-Salem was referred to as GS West, while Laurinburg was GS East. Both campuses held essentially the same program, prompting the NC Department of Public Instruction to declare that Governor's School was one school with two campuses.