2009
• KSU completes its five-year transition from Division II to become a full-fledged participant in Division I of the NCAA.
• The Board of Regents approves a new doctorate of Nursing Education, the third doctoral degree at KSU.
• KSU receives $1.5 million grant from the Harnisch Foundation to establish The Center for Sustainable Journalism.
• The Bagwell College of Education receives $890,000 grant from the National Science Foundation through the Noyce Scholarship to help fund its Increasing Mathematics Teachers for ALL Students (IMTAS) project.

2008
• KSU begins its doctoral program in Business Administration.
• KSU is selected as a site of the Confucius Institute for Chinese language and culture.
• Central Parking Deck opens, the fourth new parking deck since 2002.
• New residential facility opens, bringing total campus housing to more than 3,000 beds.
• KSU is selected by U.S. News & World Report as an “up-and-coming” university.
• U.S. News & World Report recognizes the First-Year Experience as a “Program to Look For” for the sixth consecutive year.
• KSU wins the A-Sun men’s indoor and outdoor Track & Field championships.

2007
• KSU is reaccredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) for another ten years.
• KSU’s enrollment surpasses 20,000 students for the first time.
• New Social Sciences Building and Dr. Bobbie Bailey & Family Performance Center opens.
• KSU Foundation brings $6.4 million of external gifts to the university during FY 2007.
• KSU wins A-Sun championships in women’s soccer and regular-season softball.

2006
• Dr. Daniel S. Papp becomes KSU’s third president.
• Faculty and staff receive $5.3 million in contracts and grants during FY 2006.
• Women’s soccer team wins A-Sun conference championship.
• KSU begins its first doctoral program of Education in Leadership for Learning.

2005
• Dr. Betty L. Siegel announces plans to step down as president of KSU after 25 years of distinguished leadership.
• Women’s Cross Country team wins A-Sun conference championship.
• KSU Cheerleading team wins second consecutive NCA National Championship.

2004
• U.S. News & World Report names KSU’s First-Year Experience as a “Program to Look For” in its “Best Colleges 2005” issue.
• Men’s basketball team wins NCAA Div. II national championship.
• Women’s soccer and men’s golf teams begin transition to NCAA Div. I.
• Bob Prillaman, chairman of the WellStar Health System board of trustees, receives KSU’s honorary doctorate.
• College of Science & Mathematics’ CyberTech program receives $50,000 grant from UPS Foundation and $1,000,000+ grant from the National Science Foundation.
• Fall 2004 student enrollment exceeds 18,000.
• KSU dedicates the Bobbie Bailey Athletic Complex, a new home for its NCAA Div. II softball and baseball teams.

2003
• Women’s soccer team wins NCAA Div. II national championship in its second season of existence.
• The “Anne Frank in the World” exhibit, sponsored by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust and the KSU Foundation, opens at KSU Center.
• The American Council on Education selects KSU as one of eight institutions in the country for study, “Global Learning for All,” which focuses on best practices in promoting international student success.
• KSU is named one of 12 founding institutions in a project called “Foundations of Excellence in the First Year of College,” by Dr. John Gardner and the Policy Center on the First-Year College Experience.
• The College of Health and Human Services is renamed the WellStar College of Health and Human Services in honor of WellStar Health System, following its $3.1 million gift to the college.
• The Center for Leadership, Ethics & Character receives a $1 million endowment from RTM Restaurant Group and is renamed the RTM Institute for Leadership, Ethics & Character.
• The Department of History and Philosophy receives a $1 million gift from Shaw Industries for the endowment of the Shaw Industries Distinguished Chair in History.
• The athletic department hosts its inaugural Hall-of-Fame induction
James C. Kennedy, CEO and chairman of Cox Enterprises, receives KSU’s annual honorary doctorate.

2002
• The Owls women's soccer program kicks off first season with an 18-game winning streak.
• State-of-the-art student housing opens with more than 1,000 students in residence.
• KSU named one of the top three most publicly engaged universities in the nation by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
• Fred Stillwell, longtime member of the KSU Foundation Board of Trustees, receives the honorary doctorate (Stillwell Stadium and Theater are named in honor of his family).

2001
• BusinessWeek magazine ranks the Michael J. Coles College of Business among "The Best of the Bunch," for executive MBA programs; the college also ranked third in the nation in "Teamwork" and tenth in "eBusiness".
• Time magazine highlights KSU for success in helping freshmen make a successful transition to college life through the First Year Experience.
• Betty L. Siegel celebrats 20 years as president of KSU.
• John Clendenin, education advocate and donor for whom the Ann and John Clendenin Computer Science Building is named, received KSU's annual honorary doctorate.

2000
• KSU Owls baseball team named "Team of the Decade" by Baseball America magazine.
• Fred D. Bentley Sr., founder of KSU's Rare Book Library, receives KSU's annual honorary doctorate.

1999
• KSU leases what would become KSU Center to house the Continuing Education Division and various other functions.
• Michael J. Coles, a member of the KSU Foundation Board of Trustees and benefactor for whom the Coles College of Business is named, receives the honorary doctorate.

1998
• School of the Arts added as home to the departments of music, theatre & performance studies and visual arts.
• Bobbie Bailey, a member of the KSU Foundation Board of Trustees, receives KSU's annual honorary doctorate.

1997
• The College of Education renames the Leland H. and Clarice C. Bagwell College of Education in honor of longtime educators and university benefactors.
• KSU awards its first honorary doctorate of humane letters to Clarice Bagwell.

1996
• Women's softball team wins second NCAA Division II national championship.
• Men's baseball team wins NCAA Division II national championship.
• KSC hosts finish-line festivities for America's premier cycling event, the Tour DuPont.
• Coles School of Business ranked one of the nation’s “Top 10 Up-and-Commers” in Success magazine's report on "The 25 Best Business Schools for Entrepreneurship".
• Kennesaw State attains university status; renamed Kennesaw State University.
• Four of five schools renamed colleges following change to university status.

1995
• Women's softball team wins NCAA Division II national championship.
• Success magazine lists the entrepreneurship program in the Coles School of Business among "25 Schools to Watch".

1994
• School of Business Administration renamed after entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael J. Coles.
• The School of Nursing is created.
• The Men's baseball team wins NAIA national championship.

1991
• U.S. News and World Report names KSC as the No. 1 "rising star," in the South.

1990
• The fall-quarter enrollment tops 10,000.
• KSC once again among the "rising stars of education" in U.S News & World Report's Guide to America's Best Colleges and Universities.

1989
• U.S. News & World Report lists KSC as an "up and comer" in its Guide to America's Best Colleges and Universities.

1988
• Kennesaw College renamed Kennesaw State College.
• The College celebrates Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary of its founding).

1986
• Kennesaw College and President Siegel spotlighted in the book "Searching for Academic Excellence: Twenty Colleges and Their Leaders".
• Jon Hough wins NAIA golf championship, the first national title for KSU in any sport.

1985
• Kennesaw College adds first graduate programs -- master of business administration and master of education.
• Researchers at George Mason University recognize Kennesaw as "a college on the move".

1983
• Academic divisions restructured into four schools: arts and humanities, business, education, and science and allied health.

1982
• Kennesaw begins competition in intercollegiate athletics.

1981
• Betty L. Siegel becomes the first female president in the University System of Georgia.

1980
• College awards first four-year degrees.
• Founding President Horace W. Sturgis retires.

1979
• Senior-level courses added to curriculum.

1978
• Junior-level courses added to curriculum.

1977
• Kennesaw College drops "junior" from its name.

1976
• Regents grant KJC senior-college (four-year) status effective fall 1978.

1968
• Two-year nursing program added to liberal arts programs.

1967
• College awards first degrees to five transfer students.

1966
• College opens doors to 1,014 students.

1963
• Kennesaw Junior College founded by Board of Regents.