The Institute for Colored Youth was founded in 1837 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After moving to Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and changing its name to Cheyney University, it continues as the oldest African-American school of higher education, although degrees were not granted by Cheyney until 1913; this did not matter. For prior to the Civil War, there was no structured higher education system for black students. Public policy and certain statutory provisions prohibited the education of blacks in various parts of the nation. The Institute for Colored Youth, the first higher education institution for black people, was founded in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, in 1837. It was followed by two other black institutions—Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania (1854), and Wilberforce Unive