First Five Colleges Founded in North America

The five oldest degree-granting institutions in what became the United States, all established during the colonial era:

1. Harvard College (1636) — Cambridge, MA. Founded by Massachusetts Bay Colony Great and General Court. Named for John Harvard (1638 bequest). Oldest corporation in the Western Hemisphere.
2. College of William & Mary (1693) — Williamsburg, VA. Royal charter from William III & Mary II. Second-oldest; first with full faculty, elective system, honor code. Jefferson, Monroe, Tyler alumni.
3. Yale College (1701) — Founded as Collegiate School (Saybrook, CT); moved to New Haven 1716. Renamed for Elihu Yale (1718). "Light and Truth" motto.
4. University of Pennsylvania (1740/1749) — Philadelphia. Origins: 1740 charity school; 1749 Franklin's academy charter; 1755 college charter. First U.S. medical school (1765), first business school (Wharton, 1881).
5. College of New Jersey / Princeton University (1746) — Founded by New Light Presbyterians (Elizabeth, NJ); moved to Newark 1747, Princeton 1756. Witherspoon (signer of Declaration) president 1768–1794.

Important Context

• All were private, religiously affiliated (Congregationalist, Anglican, Presbyterian)
• All predate the United States (1776)
• Several other colonial colleges followed quickly: Columbia (1754), Brown (1764), Rutgers (1766), Dartmouth (1769)
• St. John's College (Annapolis, 1696/1784) and University of Delaware (1743/1833) have complex founding dates

These five form the "Colonial Colleges" core—seven of nine survive as Ivy League or equivalent prestige institutions.