Norfolk State University is a four-year liberal arts university located in Norfolk, Virginia. It is historically a black university and a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. Founded in 1935 as Virginia Union University, it changed its name in 1942 to Norfolk Polytechnic College. It became part of the Virginia State College by an act of the state legislature in 1944. In 1969, it divided from the state college and became known as Norfolk State College. It was granted university status in 1979, which is when it acquired its current name.