Profile America: FIRST STATE-CHARTERED UNIVERSITY

FIRST STATE CHARTERED UNIVERSITY

“To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.” That’s the motto of the University of Georgia, which on this date in 1785 became the young nation’s first state-chartered university. Royally chartered private universities existed in America in Colonial times, notably Harvard and William and Mary. The University of Georgia opened in 1801 after the similarly chartered University of North Carolina.

Today, over 70 million Americans hold bachelor’s or graduate degrees. People with bachelor’s degrees average around $1 million more in lifetime earnings than workers whose education stopped with a high school diploma. Advanced degrees add about another million dollars in lifetime earnings.

Sources: Kane’s Famous First Facts