It was first called "The Lutheran Normal School". It was started for the purpose of educating teachers. In 1918, the college got its current name after joining with Augustana College in Canton. This happened because synod officials worried about having enough money to run two institutions so close together. The schools were only 20 miles (32 km) apart. The college claims its founding as 1860, the same as its sister-school (which shares the same name) in Rock Island, Illinois. Augustana gets its name from the "Confessio Augustana", the Latin name for the Augsburg Confession of 1530.