College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, and the country's oldest municipal college.
The founders of the College of Charleston included six Founding Fathers of the United States, including three who signed the Declaration of Independence: Thomas Heyward Jr., Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge; and three who signed the Constitution of the United States: Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and John Rutledge.
== History ==
The College of Charleston was founded in 1770, making it the 13th-oldest institution of higher education and oldest municipal college in the nation. The college's original structure, located at the site of what is now Randolph Hall, was designed similar to a barracks. In March 1785, the South Carolina General Assembly issued a charter to the college, which …