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Was the University of Virginia the first state university?

Well, no—and yes.

There are several other schools that can lay claim to being the first state university in the newly formed United States of America. The University of Georgia was the first to be chartered, in 1785, but it did not open and offer classes until 1801. The University of North Carolina was chartered in 1789, but it leapt ahead of Georgia and became the first to admit students, which it did in 1795.

After that, at least a dozen other institutions of higher education, calling themselves state universities and yet weakly funded through taxes, gifts, or lotteries, had opened by 1819, which was the year that the Commonwealth of Virginia chartered its University. Not until six years later, in 1825, did students begin attending classes at the University of Virginia.

So, strictly speaking, the University of Virginia was by no means the nation's first state university.

On the other hand, thanks to Jefferson's distinctive plan of education, a number of the features central to the University of Virginia from the beginning are now considered essential definitions of a state university. On these fronts, Virginia was the first:

1. The University of Virginia was founded as a secular university, with no religious affiliation or denominational identity. In contrast, Georgia, UNC, South Carolina, Vermont, Blount College (which became the University of Tennessee), and others chartered as state universities had denominational sponsorship.
2. Chapel attendance was not required of students at the University of Virginia. Other universities, public and private, required their students to attend church services. In fact, Harvard did not do away with the chapel requirement until late in the 19th century.
3. The University of Virginia was the first to offer professional and graduate study programs. These offerings included law, medicine, and the equivalent of graduate-level work in modern as well as ancient languages, history, rhetoric, mathematics, chemistry, botany, zoology, government, ethics, and other fields. Jefferson repeatedly called for a university in which "all the useful sciences should be taught in their highest degree," and the diploma granted by his University represented the highest level of learning available in the United States. After Jefferson's death, the Board of Visitors added first the M.A. degree and then finally the B.A. as a degree offered by the University. While other schools considered the M.A. an add-on for good behavior and a small fee, U.Va. required that a student pass examinations in five schools to receive one.
4. The University of Virginia was the first school to allow students an elective system. Students at William & Mary were allowed some choices, but only U.Va. students made all their own choices regarding which lectures they attended. To receive a diploma, a student had to pass examinations in at least three schools.
5. The University of Virginia established a high faculty standard for state universities, since Jefferson insisted in hiring professors of the highest caliber and reputation in their fields. He drew the ire of some fellow Americans by recruiting promising young scholars from Europe who would achieve prominence in their fields of study.
6. The University of Virginia established the ideal of intellectual freedom. "Here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it," stated Jefferson. This principle of intellectual freedom became the philosophical underpinning of the tenure system and concept of academic freedom at major state universities.
7. The University of Virginia presented a model of the principle of student government and honor to other state universities. While an "honor system" was not put into operation successfully until 1842, the ideal goes back to Thomas Jefferson and the rules he established at the 1818 Rockfish Gap meeting, when he and other state officials laid the groundwork for the University of Virginia.

By Susan Tyler Hitchcock (Grad Arts & Sciences, '78) and Jennings Wagoner (Professor, Center for the Study of Higher Education, Leadership, Foundations, and Policy, Curry School of Education)