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A Brief History

Dean was founded as Dean Academy in 1865 with the financial assistance and enthusiastic support of Dr. Oliver Dean, a Franklin, Massachusetts native and local physician who was devoted to the education of young people.

The Academy offered men and women a well-rounded program of academics, athletics and student activities. In addition, the Academy provided students a personal atmosphere that identified and cultivated the strengths of its students, preparing them for admission to college. An excellent reputation soon resulted, and the standards set during the early years have formed a strong tradition followed by Dean today.

In 1941, Dean was chartered as a two-year college. Dean proudly reached a new milestone in its history in 1994, when its name was officially changed from Dean Junior College to Dean College. In 2000, Dean added a Bachelor’s degree in Dance. Additionally, on-campus Bachelor’s degree options became available through a partnership with Suffolk University.

Today, Dean College is a private co–educational college with 950 full-time students and 500 part-time students, and more than 17,500 alumni. The broad-based liberal arts curriculum at Dean affords students the freedom to choose among a variety of Associate Degree majors and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance. Dean’s future is based soundly upon its 140-year history of developing programs that meet the changing individual needs of its students.