East Stroudsburg Normal School opened in 1893 and offered two-year programs in Elementary and Science Education. The name was changed to East Stroudsburg State Normal School in 1920 as the school, originally private, transferred to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Several years later in 1927, the school began offering Bachelor of Science in Education and Bachelor of Science in Health Education degrees which led to it becoming the State Teachers College at East Stroudsburg.

In 1960 the college became East Stroudsburg State College, a comprehensive state college.Two years later it received the right to offer graduate degrees in the areas of education in Biological Sciences, General Science, and Health and Physical Education. A year later in 1963 it offered the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1983, the college officially became East Stroudsburg University as we know it today.