The colonial colleges are nine institutions of higher education founded in the Thirteen Colonies, predating the United States. As the only American universities old enough to have alumni that participated in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States, these schools have been identified as a group for their influence on U.S. history.
While all nine colonial colleges were founded as private institutions, two later became public universities: the College of William & Mary in 1906, and Rutgers University in 1945. The remaining seven are all members of the Ivy League and remain private : Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Brown, and Dartmouth.
Nine colonial colleges Seven of the nine colonial colleges began their histories as institutions of higher learning. The other two developed out of existing preparatory schools. The University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, began operating in 1751 as the Academy of Philadelphia, a secondary school founded by Benjamin Franklin, and later added an institution of higher education in 1755 following the granting of a charter to the College of Philadelphia. Dartmouth College, an Ivy League college in Hanover, New Hampshire, began operating in 1768 as the collegiate department of Moor's Charity School, a secondary school founded in 1754 by Eleazar Wheelock, the college's founder. Dartmouth considers its founding date to be 1769, when it was granted a collegiate charter.
ImageColonial college (present name, if different)ColonyFoundedCharteredFirst instruction First degreesPrimary religious influenceIvy LeagueHarvard College(Harvard University)Massachusetts Bay Colony16361650 May was referred to as the third month because the year began on March 25.16421642CongregationalistYesCollege of William & MaryColony of Virginia16931693 The first year of William III and Mary II's reign began on February 13, 1689 (N.S.).1694Hall, David D., Cultures of Print: Essays in the History of the Book, Univ of Massachusetts Press, 1996, p. 1311694Church of England, later EpiscopalianNoCollegiate School(Yale University)Connecticut Colony1701170117021702 honorary MA 1703 BADexter, Franklin Bowditch, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College: with annals of the college history, Holt, 1885, Volume 1, pp. 6, 9, 13. Nathaniel Chauncey [father of Nathaniel Chauncey], a Harvard BA Graduate, was awarded an honorary MA in 1702 (p. 9); John Hart was awarded an earned BA as "the first actual student in the College" (p. 13).CongregationalistYesCollege of New Jersey(Princeton University)Province of New Jersey1746174617471748Presbyterian, but officially nonsectarianYesKing's College(Columbia University)Province of New York175417541754 1758Johnson, Samuel, Samuel Johnson, President of King's College; His Career and Writings, edited by Herbert and Carol Schneider, New York: Columbia University Press, 1929, Volume 4, pp. 244, 246 Nine students matriculated this year.Church of England, but with a commitment to "religious liberty."A Brief History of Columbia, Columbia University. Referenced 05.10.2011YesCollege of Philadelphia(University of Pennsylvania)Province of Pennsylvania1740 (college)175517551757Church of England, but officially nonsectarian pp. 314–315, " "The Anglicans who founded the University of Pennsylvania, however, were evidently anxious not to alienate Philadelphia's Quakers, and they made their new college officially nonsectarian."YesCollege of Rhode Island(Brown University)Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations176417641765Hoeveler, David J., Creating the American Mind: Intellect and Politics in the Colonial Colleges, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, p. 1921765Baptist, but no religious requirement for admissionsYesQueen's College(Rutgers University)Province of New Jersey1766176617711774Dutch ReformedNoDartmouth CollegeProvince of New Hampshire1769176917681771CongregationalistYes
Other colonial-era colleges and universities Several other colleges and universities trace their founding to colonial-era academies or schools, but are not considered colonial colleges because they were not formally chartered as colleges with degree-granting powers until after the nation's founding in 1776. These include:
Institution (present name, where different)Colony or stateFoundedCharteredReligious influenceKing William's School(absorbed by St. John's College when the latter was founded)Province of Maryland16961784Church of EnglandKent County Free School (absorbed by Washington College when the latter was founded)Province of Maryland17231782 NonsectarianBethlehem Female Seminary (Moravian University)Province of Pennsylvania17421863Moravian ChurchNewark Academy(University of Delaware)Delaware Colony17431833Presbyterian, but officially nonsectarian after 1769Augusta Academy (Washington and Lee University)Colony of Virginia17491813Presbyterian, but officially non-sectarianCollege of CharlestonProvince of South Carolina17701785Church of EnglandPittsburgh Academy (University of Pittsburgh)Province of Pennsylvania 1770?1787 NonsectarianLittle Girls' School (Salem College)Province of North Carolina17721866Moravian ChurchDickinson CollegeProvince of Pennsylvania17731783PresbyterianHampden–Sydney CollegeColony of Virginia17751783Presbyterian
See also
First university in the United States List of oldest universities in continuous operation Ancient universities, oldest universities in Great Britain and Ireland Ancient universities of Scotland, oldest universities in Scotland Sandstone universities, oldest universities in Australia Imperial Universities, oldest universities founded during the Empire of Japan
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