On Oct. 3, 1892, the University of Idaho opened its doors with about 40 students and one professor. Since most of the students who entered the university were at the preparatory level, the first graduating class, in 1896, numbered only four, consisting of two men and two women. In 1906, the fire at the Administration Building proved to be a turning point in the university's history. It appeared that the struggling school would slide toward retrenchment, and that it would cease growing and might even lose its long struggle for survival. James Alexander MacLean, however, turned to the Boise architect John Tourtellotte, who had designed the state's Roman Revival capitol and many other public and private buildings. Tourtellotte's Tudor Gothic structure rose from the ashes of the old Administration Building. The look of small-town New England exists here in Idaho because in 1908, the nation's premier landscape architects, the Olmsted Brothers of Massachusetts, designed a master plan for Idaho's university. They created a new campus to complement the new Administration Building. This firm had a goal to give the campus a look that would share in New England's time-honored landscapes and their ability to symbolize historical standing and refinement. Today, the University of Idaho emphasizes its commitment to higher education by providing a variety of programs. Since its founding, the University of Idaho has granted approximately 80,000 degrees.