Justin Davies, who will be a student body officer next year, said students' degrees will have more value with the word "university." And they soon won't have to leave UVSC if they want master's degrees.

"There's a swelling pride here at UVSC," he said.

While SB70 provided $8 million in additional ongoing funding for the school, it was $2 million less than Sederberg sought.

Jeff Alexander, a former House majority leader, predicted the Legislature will come through in the future with the rest of the money.

"When I was first elected to the Legislature in the early 1990s, you had to educate people — even me — about UVSC," Alexander said.

Now, however, people know UVSC well. Utah Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert said Monday his children have attended school there.

"I think having two universities here (in Utah County) will make this valley shine even more," said Ira Fulton, a philanthropist who recently helped raise $5 million for the college and matched it with $5 million of his own money.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com