Lincoln University

Lincoln University is a public, state-related historically Black university located in Lower Oxford Township, Pennsylvania, with an additional location in Philadelphia. Founded in 1854, it is recognized as the first degree-granting historically Black college and university in the United States. Lincoln University offers undergraduate and selected graduate programs in the liberal arts, sciences, business, and education. The university is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and has been associated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania since 1972. Lincoln attracts students interested in a historically grounded academic environment, small class sizes, and programs that emphasize leadership, public service, and global engagement.

Lincoln University was founded in 1854 in Pennsylvania as the Ashmun Institute by Presbyterian minister John Miller Dickey and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson. Chartered on April 29, 1854, it became the first degree-granting historically Black college and university in the United States. In 1866, following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the institution was renamed Lincoln University in his honor. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Lincoln University educated generations of African American leaders, including future heads of state in Africa and prominent scholars. The university expanded its academic programs and campus facilities over time, and in 1972 it became a state-related institution affiliated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today, Lincoln University continues to operate from its main campus in Lower Oxford Township and a site in Philadelphia, maintaining its historic mission while offering a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs.