The Oldest University in All 50 States

A handful of East Coast schools date to the 1600s.

Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. | DenisTangneyJr/GettyImages

Late summer heralds the start of back-to-school season, meaning it won’t be long before college students are hurriedly finishing their term papers and chugging quad-shots of espresso during their late-night study sessions.

Learned students have wandered the hallowed halls of universities throughout the world for centuries. The oldest operating university was established way back in 859 CE in Fez, Morocco. This certainly was long before the establishment of the first American university (and, of course, the United States in general). Europe also boasts numerous universities that are more than 500 years old. 

As expected, higher education institutions in the U.S. are quite a bit younger than their Old World counterparts. But several universities in the States now have at least a couple centuries under their belts. 

The education search platform Erudera compiled a list of the oldest university or college in each state (plus Washington, D.C.). We’ve listed the results below.

The Oldest College in Each State

University

State

Year Founded

The University of Alabama

Alabama

1831

The University of Alaska Fairbanks

Alaska

1917

The University of Arizona

Arizona

1885

The University of the Ozarks

Arkansas

1834

Santa Clara University

California

1851

University of Denver

Colorado

1864

Yale University

Connecticut

1701

University of Delaware

Delaware

1743

Florida State University

Florida

1851

The University of Georgia

Georgia

1785

The University of Hawaii at Mānoa

Hawaii

1907

Brigham Young University-Idaho

Idaho

1888

McKendree University

Illinois

1828

Vincennes University

Indiana

1801

Loras College

Iowa

1839

Baker University

Kansas

1858

Transylvania University

Kentucky

1780

Centenary College of Louisiana

Louisiana

1825

Bowdoin College

Maine

1794

St. John's College

Maryland

1696

Harvard University

Massachusetts

1636

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Michigan

1817

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Minnesota

1851

Mississippi College in Clinton

Mississippi

1826

Saint Louis University

Missouri

1818

Rocky Mountain College

Montana

1878

Peru State College

Nebraska

1867

University of Nevada in Reno

Nevada

1874

Dartmouth College

New Hampshire

1769

Princeton University

New Jersey

1746

New Mexico State University

New Mexico

1888

Columbia University

New York

1754

Salem College

North Carolina

1772

The University of North Dakota

North Dakota

1883

Ohio University

Ohio

1804

Bacone College

Oklahoma

1880

Willamette University

Oregon

1842

University of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

1740

Brown University

Rhode Island

1764

The College of Charleston

South Carolina

1770

Augustana University

South Dakota

1860

Tusculum University

Tennessee

1794

Southwestern University

Texas

1840

University of Utah

Utah

1850

Castleton State College

Vermont

1787

College of William & Mary

Virginia

1693

The University of Washington

Washington

1861

West Liberty University

West Virginia

1837

Carroll University

Wisconsin

1846

The University of Wyoming

Wyoming

1886

Georgetown University

Washington, D.C.

1789

Seven of the eight Ivy League schools (all but Cornell) made the list. The country’s oldest higher education institution, Harvard University in Massachusetts, was founded 1636—that’s more than 100 years before the Declaration of Independence was even signed. 

Virginia is home to the second oldest, the College of William & Mary. William & Mary holds the distinction of being the first U.S. college with a royal charter; its namesake royals (King William II and Queen Mary II of England) signed the charter to establish a “perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and other good Arts and Sciences” in what was then the colony of Virginia in 1693. 

And though a good number of schools on the above list are private, you’ll spot several public institutions as well. The oldest public university in the U.S. is the University of Georgia, which was founded in 1785.

The youngest of the oldest universities on the list is found in Alaska. The 49th state opened its first university—the University of Alaska Fairbanks—in 1917. The school was originally founded as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines.

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