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St. John’s is a coeducational, liberal arts college with no religious affiliation. The college was founded in 1696 as King William’s School and chartered in 1784 as St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland.
St. John’s is one of the most celebrated colleges in America, and part of our mission is to make this education accessible to diverse students of all backgrounds. St. John’s offers one of the lowest private college tuitions alongside generous financial aid.
- 1784
- 1789
- 1791
- 1792
- 1814
- 1818
- 1863
- 1899
- 1909
- 1937
The state of Maryland charters St. John’s College, merging it with King William’s School; four of the college founders signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The former governor’s mansion, McDowell Hall, is completed and serves as the foundation for the college; it is now one of the oldest academic buildings in continuous use in the country. The interior of McDowell Hall was renovatedin 2017.
President George Washington, who in 1783 at the nearby Maryland State House resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, visits St. John’s College, expressing “much satisfaction at the appearance of this rising seminary.”
Since at least 1792, the first year we have a documented curriculum for St. John’s, Johnnies have read the following authors that are still read in the Program today: Euclid, Plato, Livy, Xenophon, Aristotle, and Epictetus.
Francis Scott Key, a St. John’s alumnus, watches the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore and pens a poem—“The Star-Spangled Banner”—commemorating the American victory.
By 1818, these still-read Program authors were added to the curriculum: Homer, John Locke, Virgil, Tacitus, Plutarch, Cicero, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.
During the Civil War when Camp Parole is built outside the city of Annapolis, the Union’s medical corps takes over St. John’s buildings, which became known as College Green Hospital.
The Black and Orange, the St. John’s College football team, earns a 62-0 victory against what is now the University of Maryland, making the front page of the Washington Post.
A fire engulfs McDowell Halland nearly burns the historic center of St. John’s College to the ground; in the aftermath of the blaze, alumni successfully advocate to have the building restored as close as possible to the original design.
Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan implement their big idea, the New Program, which the college still follows today.
Apr 3, 2014 · St. John’s College is the right fit for someone who is seeking a special sort of education—an education in the arts of freedom, an education in how to make learning and life their own. Our College has at least five features that make it uniquely suited to such a person.
But I do think that St. John's really does offer its students the possibility of the highest form of freedom -- freedom of the mind. Certainly, not all Johnnies take the College up on this offer. And St. John's does not hold a monopoly on this to the exclusion of other colleges and universities.
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Recently, there has a scattering of questions about the political environment within the student body at St. John's College. How political is the student body? Or Would I fit in as an individual [of a given political leaning?]
