USA LIST OF 25 OLDEST UNIVERSITY AS HARVARD UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDED IN 1636 AND ITS ORIGINAL NAME WAS NEW COLLEGE BUT LATER CHANGED TO ITS BENEFACTOR WHOSE NAME WAS JOHN HARVARD AND READ ABOUT 25 UNIVERSITIES 1. Harvard University Founding Year 1636 Founders Massachusetts legislature Acceptance Rate 6% Even though this oldest Ivy went on to be named for university benefactor John Harvard, it originally went by the names “New College” or “the college at New Towne.” 2. College of William & Mary Founding Year 1693 Founders King William III and Queen Mary II Acceptance Rate 32% U.S. presidents like Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe went to this Virginia school, in addition to 16 signers of the Declaration of Independence. 3. St. John’s College – Annapolis Founding Year 1696 Founders Maryland colony Acceptance Rate 82% It may have been christened “St. John’s College” in 1784, but the school had its origins as “King William’s School” in 1696—Maryland’s first “free” school (“free” meaning to liberate students through education). 4. Yale University Founding Year 1701 Founders Clergymen Acceptance Rate 8% The charter name of this school wasn’t too original (“Collegiate School”), but in 1718, it was renamed “Yale College” in honor of benefactor Elihu Yale, who served as governor of the British East India Company. 5. University of Pennsylvania Founding Year 1740 Founders Benjamin Franklin Acceptance Rate 13% The man with the hundred-dollar face founded Penn (not to be confused with Penn State), which became the first academic institution to follow the multidisciplinary model used by European schools. 6. Moravian College & Moravian Theological Seminary Founding Year 1742 Founders Moravians Acceptance Rate 78% Originally known by the name Bethlehem Female Seminary, Moravian College was founded as the first boarding school for women in the United States. 7. University of Delaware Founding Year 1743 Founders Francis Alison Acceptance Rate 58% Like William & Mary, UD alumni include signers of the Declaration of Independence, including George Read, Thomas McKean, and James Smith. 8. Princeton University Founding Year 1746 Founders New Light Presbyterians Acceptance Rate 8% Not only was Princeton originally founded as the “College of New Jersey,” but it was also created in order to train ministers. 9. Washington & Lee University Founding Year 1749 Founders Scotch-Irish Presbyterian pioneers Acceptance Rate 18% This school went through a series of designations before settling on Washington & Lee, including the name “Liberty Hall” during the American Revolution. 10. Columbia University Founding Year 1754 Founders Royal charter of George II of Great Britain Acceptance Rate 7% The oldest institution of higher education in the State of New York was founded with the name “King’s College” before being renamed “Columbia” in 1784. 11. Brown University Founding Year 1764 Founders Baptist Church association support Acceptance Rate 9% The school was originally called the “College of Rhode Island,” but was renamed in 1770 following a gift from Nicholas Brown Jr. 12. Rutgers University Founding Year 1766 Founders Ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church Acceptance Rate 61% You may know it today as simply “Rutgers,” but at one time the New Jersey public research university was called “Queen’s College.” 13. Dartmouth College Founding Year 1769 Founders Eleazar Wheelock Acceptance Rate 10% As one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution, the college was incorporated as “Trustees of Dartmouth College.” 14. College of Charleston Founding Year 1770 Founders Several prominent South Carolinians Acceptance Rate 74% The long list of founders went on to sign the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Heyward, Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge) as well as the United States Constitution (Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, and John Rutledge). 15. Salem College Founding Year 1772 Founders Moravians Acceptance Rate 56% Located in Winston-Salem, N.C., Salem College is the oldest female educational institution that still operates as a women’s college. 16. Hampden-Sydney College Founding Year 1775 Founders Samuel Stanhope Smith Acceptance Rate 56% In addition to being known as one of the few men’s colleges remaining in the United States, Hampden-Sydney is also the last college founded before the American Revolution. 17. Transylvania University Founding Year 1780 Founders Virginia assembly Acceptance Rate 83% The first college west of the Allegheny Mountains has alumni that include two U.S. vice presidents, two Supreme Court justices, and many other government officials. 18. Washington & Jefferson College Founding Year 1781 Founders Three frontier clergymen Acceptance Rate 41% Three Princeton graduates (John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith) founded this college in Washington, Pa., where it originated in three log cabin schools. 19. Washington College Founding Year 1782 Founders Evolved from Kent County Free School Acceptance Rate 66% Aside from allowing the college use of his name, George Washington also granted 50 guineas to this school in Chestertown, Md. 20. Dickinson College Founding Year 1783 Founders Pennsylvania legislature Acceptance Rate 40% Dickinson initially started as a grammar school, but soon people started pushing for it to become a college. The conversation to found the college ended up taking place on prominent businessman and politician William Bingham’s porch. 21. University of Georgia Founding Year 1785 Founders Georgia General Assembly Acceptance Rate 63% The University of Georgia is the United States’ first state-chartered university and also the oldest and largest institution of higher education in the state. 22. University of Pittsburgh Founding Year 1787 Founders Hugh Henry Brackenridge Acceptance Rate 58% The University of Pittsburgh was founded in early 1787 under its original name, “Pittsburgh Academy.” 23. Franklin & Marshall College Founding Year 1787 Founders Four prominent ministers Acceptance Rate 39% Named for Benjamin Franklin, F&M was established in mid-1787 as a German college with the goal to preserve the “present republican system of government.” 24. Georgetown University Founding Year 1789 Founders John Carroll Acceptance Rate 18% The oldest Jesuit and Catholic university in the United States received charter under the name “The President and Directors of Georgetown College.” 25. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Founding Year 1789 Founders North Carolina General Assembly Acceptance Rate 33% UNC Chapel Hill is the oldest public university in the nation based on the start of its public instruction.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 03:02:03 +0000
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