The College of Charleston is a public, sea-grant and space-grant university located in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, the university's name reflects its history as the oldest college in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, and the oldest municipal college in the country. The founders of the College include three future signers of the Declaration of Independence (Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton and Thomas Heyward) and three future signers of the United States Constitution (John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney). Founded to "encourage and institute youth in the several branches of liberal education," the university is one of the oldest universities in the United States.