In 1965 the master's degree program was reinstituted. This development coupled with the existing diversity of degree programs, resulted in Howard College's official elevation to university status on November 9, 1965.
In the same year the university was named for Frank Park Samford, member of one of Alabama's most respected families, chairman of the Howard College Board of Trustees, and, to that time, the institution's most generous individual benefactor.
The Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing owned by the Baptist Medical Center of Birmingham, was added to the University in 1973. In 1988, the Beeson School of Divinity was established through the generosity of Ralph W. Beeson.
The University now consists of the Howard College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education and Professional Studies, School of Performing Arts, Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Beeson School of Divinity, and Cumberland School of Law.
To learn more about Samford's history, read Toward a History of Samford University by James F. Sulzby, Jr., and 160 Years of Samford University by Sean Flynt.