Lincoln University (LU) is the United States’ first degree-granting historically black university. Founded as a private university in 1854, it has been a public institution since 1972. Its main campus is located on 422 acres near the town of Oxford in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university has two satellite locations, in University City, Philadelphia and Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Lincoln University provides undergraduate and graduate coursework to approximately 2,000 students. The University is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
In his book, Education for Freedom: A History of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, former LU president Dr. Horace Mann Bond noted that “This was the first institution founded anywhere in the world to provide a higher education in the arts and sciences for youth of African descent.” While a majority of Lincoln University students are African Americans, the university has a long history of accepting students of other races and nationalities. Women have been permitted to receive degrees since 1953, and made up 60% of undergraduate enrollment in 2015.
