The Nine Colonial Colleges
Seven of the nine colonial colleges began their histories as institutions of higher learning de novo (i.e., with no predecessor parent organization). Dartmouth College began operating in 1768 as the collegiate department of Moor's Charity School, a secondary school started in 1754 by Dartmouth founder Eleazar Wheelock. Dartmouth considers its founding date to be 1769, when it was granted a collegiate charter. The University of Pennsylvania began operating in 1751 as a secondary school, the Academy of Philadelphia, and added an institution of higher education in 1755 with the granting of a charter to the College of Philadelphia.
| Institution (present name, where different) | Colony | Founded | Chartered | First instruction (degrees) | Primary religious influence | Ivy League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New College (Harvard University) |
Massachusetts Bay Colony | 1636 | 1650 | 1642 (1642) | Puritan (Congregational) | Yes |
| The College of William & Mary | Colony and Dominion of Virginia | 1693 | 1693 | Church of England | No | |
| Collegiate School (Yale University) |
Connecticut Colony | 1701 | 1701 | Puritan (Congregational) | Yes | |
| College of New Jersey (Princeton University) |
Province of New Jersey | 1746 | 1746 | 1747 (1748) | Presbyterian but officially nonsectarian | Yes |
| College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) |
Province of Pennsylvania | 1740 | 1755 | 1755 (1757) | Church of England but officially nonsectarian | Yes |
| King's College (Columbia University in the City of New York) |
Province of New York | 1754 | 1754 | Church of England with a policy of commitment to "religious liberty." | Yes | |
| Rhode Island College (chartered as the College or University in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England, in America) (Brown University) |
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations | 1764 | 1764 | Baptist (no religious requirement for admissions) | Yes | |
| Queen's College (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) |
Province of New Jersey | 1766 | 1766 | 1771 (1774) | Dutch Reformed | No |
| Dartmouth College | Province of New Hampshire | 1769 | 1769 | 1768 (1771) | Puritan (Congregational) | Yes |
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Famous quotes containing the words colonial and/or colleges:
“Are you there, Africa with the bulging chest and oblong thigh? Sulking Africa, wrought of iron, in the fire, Africa of the millions of royal slaves, deported Africa, drifting continent, are you there? Slowly you vanish, you withdraw into the past, into the tales of castaways, colonial museums, the works of scholars.”
—Jean Genet (1910–1986)
“The fetish of the great university, of expensive colleges for young women, is too often simply a fetish. It is not based on a genuine desire for learning. Education today need not be sought at any great distance. It is largely compounded of two things, of a certain snobbishness on the part of parents, and of escape from home on the part of youth. And to those who must earn quickly it is often sheer waste of time. Very few colleges prepare their students for any special work.”
—Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876–1958)