<P> William & Mary calls itself `` America 's second - oldest college '' , acknowledging Harvard 's claim but adding that William & Mary itself is the nation 's oldest college in its `` antecedents , '' the College of Henricopolis or University of Henrico established by the Virginia Company near Richmond , Virginia . This institution received a royal charter in 1618 and operated a school for several years before being destroyed with the town during the Indian Massacre of 1622 , but it never offered college - level instruction . The following year , King James I dissolved the Virginia Company , converting the Colony of Virginia to a crown colony . William and Mary was founded under a new charter in 1693 . </P>
<P> William & Mary calls itself `` America 's second - oldest college '' , acknowledging Harvard 's claim but adding that William & Mary itself is the nation 's oldest college in its `` antecedents , '' the College of Henricopolis or University of Henrico established by the Virginia Company near Richmond , Virginia . This institution received a royal charter in 1618 and operated a school for several years before being destroyed with the town during the Indian Massacre of 1622 , but it never offered college - level instruction . The following year , King James I dissolved the Virginia Company , converting the Colony of Virginia to a crown colony . William and Mary was founded under a new charter in 1693 . </P>
when was the first college founded in america
when was the first college founded in america
1618
1618