Lakeland traces its beginnings to German immigrants who, seeking a new life, traveled to America and settled in the Sheboygan area. Milestones in the college's history include:
In 1862, the founders built Missionshaus, a combined academy-college-seminary. The school was called Mission House College and Seminary until 1956 when it adopted the name Lakeland College.
In 1978, Lakeland launched the state’s first degree-completion program for working adults by offering evening classes. Today, Lakeland’s Evening, Weekend & Online program enrolls more than 2,000 graduate and undergraduate students.
In 1991, Lakeland founded a campus in Tokyo, Japan and in 2005 it was recognized as an overseas campus, allowing it to sponsor visas for students.
On July 1, 2016, Lakeland College became Lakeland University. This change resulted in the creation of three schools, a School of Business & Entrepreneurship; a School of Science, Technology & Education; and a School of Humanities and Fine Arts as well as new academic offerings. The change was fueled by many factors, including desire to increase international recruitment and clear up confusion with Lakeshore Technical College, a neighboring institution.
In the fall of 2017, Lakeland launched a cooperative education model which allows Lakeland students to gain 12–18 months of professional work experience with local companies, along with the ability to earn more than $100,000 to minimize post-graduate student debt.
Academics
Lakeland University is a bachelor's and master's degree-granting liberal arts institution related to the United Church of Christ with nearly 3,500 students from 24 countries, 10 on-campus residence halls and more than 30 majors. Lakeland University offers 10 undergraduate majors and three graduate degrees. Courses typically meet once per week during evening hours, over 14-week semesters in the fall and spring and over 10-week semesters in the summer. With its BlendEd format, students always have the option of attending classes in person or accessing courses and completing their work entirely online.
Athletics
Lakeland University teams participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. The Muskies are a member of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland was a former member of the Lake Michigan Conference until the spring of 2006. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wrestling. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and Wisconsin's first intercollegiate women's wrestling team. Lakeland's official colors are navy blue and gold.
Campuses
In addition to the main campus in Plymouth, Lakeland has seven evening, weekend and online centers, located in Milwaukee, Madison, Wisconsin Rapids, Chippewa Falls, Fox Cities, Green Bay, Sheboygan. The university also has an international campus in Tokyo, Japan. Center Locations:
