The city has had a college since 1856 beginning with the Presbyterian-founded Carbondale College which was later converted to an elementary school. Carbondale also won the bid for the new state teacher training school for the region, and Southern Illinois Normal University opened in 1874. This gave the town new industry, new citizens, and a supplement to public schools. In 1947, the name was changed to Southern Illinois University (SIU). It has become the flagship of the Southern Illinois University system. This institution, now recognized as a national research university, has nearly 18,000 students enrolled (as of 2014) and offers a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate specialties.