SALT LAKE CITY —

The Utah college where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot Wednesday is the state's largest public university after years of rapid enrollment growth, but is lesser known than other colleges in the state.

Related video above: Utah Valley University students recount terror after the assassination of Charlie Kirk Advertisement

Utah Valley University was founded under a different name in 1941 as a vocational school focused on providing war production training. It didn't begin offering four-year degrees until the 1990s, a move that fueled a fivefold increase in enrollment over the next three decades. It now has nearly 47,000 students, according to the university website.

Nearly nine out of 10 students at the school in Orem are from Utah, and 18% of stud

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