Central Mindanao University

Central Mindanao University was transformed from a settlement of farm schools organized by the Americans. It started as the Mailag Industrial School in 1910 and offered only the first four grades of the elementary agriculture curriculum.[4] Situated in Mailag, Malaybalay, Bukidnon, this school was opened to address the necessity of training Bukidnons to teach in their own province as it was difficult to recruit non-Bukidnon teachers to serve in newly opened public schools.[4]

CMU Entrance Gate

In 1918, the school was renamed the Bukidnon Agricultural School and offered the last three grades of the elementary agriculture curriculum. This was later relocated to Managok, Malaybalay, Bukidnon. After a few years it offered the secondary agriculture curriculum. By 1923, the Governor General renamed the school to the Bukidnon Rural High School and allocated 724 hectares for the school's reservation by virtue of Proclamation No. 30.

In 1928, the Philippine Legislature changed the named of the school to Bukidnon Agricultural High School, which was then a secondary agricultural school for male students. In 1938, it was renamed the Bukidnon National Agricultural School which implemented the secondary homemaking curriculum for female students.[5]

After the war, Superintendent Zosimo Montemayor reopened the school but due to its terrible condition caused by World War II, the school was transferred to Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon, Philippines

Congressman Cesar Fortich of Bukidnon sponsored House Bill 3041, which elevated BNAS into an agricultural state college. On June 21, 1952, President Elpidio Quirino signed Republic Act 807, otherwise known as the Mindanao Agricultural College (MAC) Charter which also installed Zosimo Montemayor as President. This law also paved the way for funding from national, as well as foreign sources. In 1957-1960, three Stanford consultants, namely James Wall, Donald Green and John McCleland, lived in the locality and provided technical assistance in agricultural technology.[5]

CMU Administration Building.

In 1958, President Carlos Garcia, on recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, issued Proclamation No. 476 granting CMU 3,401 hectares of land. The titling of land began as early as 1961 before the Court of First Instance of Bukidnon to determine the rights of adverse claimants, if there were any.[5] By June 19, 1965, R.A. 4498 catapulted MAC to the Central Mindanao University with Montemayor as the first President.

In 1974, the 1971 Cadastral Court decision for the segregation of several hectares was amended for humanitarian reason and the government's agrarian program. The 321.9 hectares were properly segregated and given to legitimate claimants and CMU was granted title for 3,080 hectares.

The current CMU president is Dr. Maria Luisa Rupac Soliven. She was elected by the CMU Board of Regents on December 15, 2010.[6] She previously served as the Vice-President for Academic Affairs, and before that as the first female Dean of the College of Agriculture of CMU. She is the eighth CMU president. She was inducted on December 30, 2010, taking over the previous officer-in-charge, Dr. Victor M. Barroso.[7] The former CMU presidents are Dr. Amado Campos, Dr. Isabelo S. Alcordo, Dr. Rodolfo Nayga, Dr. Leonardo Chua, Dr. Jaime Gellor, and Dr. Mardonio M. Lao.

CMU University Convention Center

CMU provides education to students in the "depressed, deprived and disadvantaged sectors" in the region. CMU has two categories of tuition fees: P150 for new students, P90 for the old students. Eighty percent of CMU students are children of farmers.

[9]

• Central Mindanao University Laboratory High School

• Official Website