Southern New Hampshire University

Founded in 1932, Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) began as a two-room business school above a nondescript storefront in downtown Manchester, NH. Originally named the New Hampshire Accounting and Secretarial School, the tiny enterprise enrolled fewer than 10 day students and 35 evening students in bookkeeping, accounting, and secretarial courses.

The school’s founder, Harry Alfred Benjamin “H.A.B.” Shapiro, started the program to teach bookkeepers the underlying theory behind the tasks they performed day in and day out. Shapiro believed passionately in the value of knowing the “why” of accounting and not just the “how.”

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