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 to the present day: 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.
| Image | Colonial college (present name, if different) |
Colony | Founded | Chartered | First instruction | First degrees | Primary religious influence | Ivy League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard College (Harvard University) |
Massachusetts Bay Colony | 1636 | 1650 | 1642 | 1642 | Congregationalist | Yes | |
| College of William & Mary | Colony of Virginia | 1693 | 1693 | 1694 | 1694 | Church of England, later Episcopalian | No | |
| Collegiate School (Yale University) |
Connecticut Colony | 1701 | 1701 | 1702 | 1702 honorary MA
1703 BA |
Congregationalist | Yes | |
| College of New Jersey (Princeton University) |
Province of New Jersey | 1746 | 1746 | 1747 | 1748 | Presbyterian, but officially nonsectarian | Yes | |
| King's College (Columbia University) |
Province of New York | 1754 | 1754 | 1754 | 1758 | Church of England, but with a commitment to "religious liberty." | Yes | |
| College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) |
Province of Pennsylvania | 1740 (college) | 1755 | 1755 | 1757 | Church of England, but officially nonsectarian | Yes | |
| College of Rhode Island (Brown University) |
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations | 1764 | 1764 | 1765 | 1765 | Baptist, but no religious requirement for admissions | Yes | |
| Queen's College (Rutgers University) |
Province of New Jersey | 1766 | 1766 | 1771 | 1774 | Dutch Reformed | No | |
| Dartmouth College | Province of New Hampshire | 1769 | 1769 | 1768 | 1771 | Congregationalist | Yes |
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 state | Founded | Chartered | Religious influence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King William's School (absorbed by St. John's College when the latter was founded) |
Province of Maryland | 1696 | 1784 | Church of England |
| Kent County Free School (absorbed by Washington College when the latter was founded) |
Province of Maryland | 1723 | 1782 | Nonsectarian |
| Bethlehem Female Seminary (Moravian University) |
Province of Pennsylvania | 1742 | 1863 | Moravian Church |
| Newark Academy (University of Delaware) |
Delaware Colony | 1743 | 1833 | Presbyterian, but officially nonsectarian after 1769 |
| Augusta Academy (Washington and Lee University) |
Colony of Virginia | 1749 | 1813 | Presbyterian, but officially non-sectarian |
| College of Charleston | Province of South Carolina | 1770 | 1785 | Church of England |
| Pittsburgh Academy (University of Pittsburgh) |
Province of Pennsylvania | 1770? | 1787 | Nonsectarian |
| Little Girls' School (Salem College) |
Province of North Carolina | 1772 | 1866 | Moravian Church |
| Dickinson College | Province of Pennsylvania | 1773 | 1783 | Presbyterian |
| Hampden–Sydney College | Colony of Virginia | 1775 | 1783 | Presbyterian |
