[1] The decision to establish the university system came from the recommendation of the Interim Commission on Higher Education appointed in 1961 by Governor Wesley Powell.
In establishing the university system, the Keene and Plymouth Teachers' Colleges were removed from the supervision of the State Board of Education, were renamed "state colleges", and placed under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees of the University of New Hampshire.
The Board designated the President of the University of New Hampshire as "first among equals" and assigned the responsibility to coordinate the activities of the three institutions.
[2] In 1972, the trustees established the School of Continuing Studies (now Granite State College) to serve the adult education needs of New Hampshire residents.
In summer 1974, the newly designated USNH staff moved five miles west of Durham to Lee.