Researching Did You Know In 1859, This Texas College Had The Most Powerful Telescope In The South?, I learned Larissa College was one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Texas. (The Texas legislature approved its charter on February 2, 1856.) It made me wonder which Texas university, still operating, is the oldest in the state. This DYK is the result of that question.
Higher Learning
The first mention of a public university in what is now Texas dates all the way back to the 1827 constitution of the Mexican State of Coahuila y Tejas’. The idea lingered into the Republic of Texas years, and yet no public university was formed. Why bother when churches and religious organizations seemed happy to take up the slack?
During its existence, the Republic of Texas granted charters for eight universities, seven colleges, ten academies, and four institutes. Between statehood in 1845 and the Civil War, the Texas legislature granted many more charters for higher learning institutions, although not all became a reality. Of the nearly 100 private universities founded in Texas between 1837-1900, only about twenty are still around today.
Did You Know…
- Eight religions were responsible for founding 51 colleges in Texas prior to 1900. The Methodists founded twenty-one of them, the Baptists ten, the Presbyterians eight, the Catholics four, the Christian Church three, the Episcopalians and Lutherans two each, and the Congregationalists one.
- The Civil War presented Texas’s new colleges with a major challenge. Teachers, headmasters, and students all left college to join the army. This resulted in the number of colleges and students decreasing from twenty-five colleges with 2,416 students in 1860 to thirteen colleges with about 800 students in 1870.
Texas Universities
Nine Texas Universities—both public and private—started in the 1800s and made their mark before 1900. These are the oldest, still operating, universities in Texas.
#9 – Texas State University. Founded in 1899 as Southwest Texas State Normal School, it was established to “prepare the best teachers in the Lone Star State.” Between 1899-2013, the school had seven name changes.
#8 – The University of North Texas. Established in 1890, it, too, began as a teacher’s college. Its original name was Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute.
#7 – The University of Texas. UT opened on September 15, 1883, but it was “created” seven years earlier when voters adopted the Texas Constitution on February 15, 1876. Article 7, Section 10: “The legislature shall as soon as practicable establish, organize and provide for the maintenance, support and direction of a University of the first class, to be located by a vote of the people of this State, and styled, ‘The University of Texas,’ for the promotion of literature, and the arts and sciences…”
#6 – The University of the Incarnate Word. Founded in 1881, this is one of two Catholic schools to make it into the top nine of the oldest universities in Texas.
#5 – Sam Houston State University. This university was founded in 1879 to train teachers.
#4 – St. Edwards University. Founded in 1877, St. Edwards is the oldest Catholic university in Texas.
Did You Know…
- Only one U.S. President (Lydon Baines Johnson) graduated from a Texas university (Texas State University).
- Texas State University’s Forensic Anthropology Research Facility, a.k.a. Body Farm, is the largest in the world.
- The University of North Texas began above a hardware store on the Denton town square.
- Normal Schools, or Normal Colleges, were created to properly train public primary and secondary teachers.
- On September 6, 1881, Texas voters chose Austin (30,913 votes) as the site of the University of Texas. Coming in second (20,741 votes), Galveston was chosen as the site of UT’s medical department.
Three Oldest
#3 – Texas A&M. Founded in 1876, A&M was the state’s first public school for higher learning.
#2 – Texas Christian University. The TCU Churches of Christ founded this private university in 1873, prior to any public Texas university.
#1 – Baylor University. Founded by the Baptists, Baylor is Texas’ oldest continually operating university. It is older than TCU by almost three decades. In fact, Baylor University, founded on February 1, 1845, is ten months older than the State of Texas, which didn’t join the U.S.A. until December 29, 1845.
Did You Know…
- Texas A&M has the largest university enrollment in Texas and one of the largest in the U.S.
- In 1841, delegates to the Union Baptist Association voted to establish a Baptist university in Texas. They petitioned the Republic of Texas Congress for a charter in 1844.
- Baylor University began in Independence, TX, but moved to Waco in 1885.