The students lived, attended classes and cared for patients in the hospital overlooking Capitol Lake.

Recruitment to the diploma program was intensified, enrollment increased and the school continued to grow.

This coincided with the relocation of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center to its present site on Essen Lane.

In 1989, the process culminated with the decision of the Franciscan Sisters and the medical center administration to transition to a degree-granting institution of higher education.

Within the next few years, the college began offering Associate of Science degrees in radiologic technology and general studies, in addition to nursing.

Harper left Our Lady of the Lake College in August 2013 to head McMurry University in Abilene, Texas.