Alderson-Broaddus (A-B) College officials voted April 20 to change the name of its 142-year-old institution. The charter to change the institution's name to Alderson-Broaddus University effective July 1 will be filed at the end of the fiscal year in the secretary of state's office, Charleston.

The Board of Trustees approved the proposal to rename the college during its annual spring meeting Saturday.

"This is a momentous day in the history of Alderson-Broaddus," said Ron Burbick, chairman of the Board of Trustees. "The past two years have been record breaking for our mountaintop college and our future is brighter than ever. Changing to University will give Alderson Broaddus a name that reflects its character and status among schools of higher education."

Burbicj said that the college is in a much better position than it was five years ago, including experiencing aggressive enrolment, adding more undergraduate and master's degree programs after introducing their Strategic Plan in August 2011.

Last summer, the college created a task force to analyse the university's name change which later approved the move in October.

Initially, A-B started off as two separate institutions- Broaddus College, and Alderson Academy and Junior College that merged in 1932.

Broaddus College , which is the older among the two colleges was established in Winchester, Va., 1871 by Edward Jefferson Willis, who named the college after Rev. William Francis Ferguson Broaddus- a prominent Baptist minister during Civil War.

On the other hand, Alderson Academy and Junior College, was founded in Alderson, W.Va., in 1901.

Financial struggles in the late 1920s led to the merger of both the colleges.