In what year was Harvard University founded?

Harvard University was founded in 1636.

The Massachusetts General Court authorized money for a “school or college” in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, establishing the institution that became Harvard. It was first called Harvard College in 1639, after its early benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard.

John Harvard left the college £780 and a library of about 320 books when he died in 1638. That gift significantly strengthened the young institution and helped lead to its renaming. Harvard’s early curriculum followed the English university model and trained many Congregational ministers.

Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Boston. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, though the word “university” was not used in its original founding name. The institution’s undergraduate division is still formally known as Harvard College.