Born in the midst of the Experiential Education Movement, Johnston College is an endowed college that began as an experiment in professor-student mentor relationships and a student-initiated, contract-driven education, and operated as an autonomous unit of the University for approximately 10 years. The first class of approximately 30 students graduated in 1972. The structure of the educational system was based on seminars (8–10 students), tutorials (3–8), and independent studies. In 1979, it was integrated into the College of Arts and Sciences as the Johnston Center for Individualized Studies. It operated under that name until the mid-1990s, when it was renamed the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies.