Lincoln University

Lincoln University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Jefferson City, Missouri, U.S. A historically black institution, Lincoln University (now integrated) offers associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees through colleges of agriculture, applied sciences and technology, arts and sciences, and business. Greenberry Farm and several other farms owned by the university are important to its agricultural education programs. Total enrollment is about 3,500 students.

Lincoln University had its origins in Lincoln Institute, conceived by Missouri soldiers of the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry who were stationed near Galveston, Texas, during the American Civil War. The 65th Colored Infantry also contributed to the school’s founding. Classes for free black students were inaugurated in 1866. In 1870 the state began funding Lincoln’s teacher-training program. College work was added to the curriculum in 1877, and two years later the school became a state institution. Under the provisions of the second Morrill Act, in 1890, Lincoln Institute became a land-grant institution. It achieved university status in 1921.