Lincoln University, a historically black college or university, is located in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 2007, according to U.S. News and World Report, Lincoln University was ranked #3 for economic diversity, #5 for campus ethnic diversity, and #9 for most international students among master's level universities in the Midwest. The University is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.The school was founded as Lincoln Institute in 1866 by veterans of the 62nd and 65th Regiments United States Colored Troops (USCT) Infantry. The former soldiers intended to provide an education to African Americans through the combining of academics and labor, in the industrial school model characteristic of Booker T. Washington's influential Tuskegee Institute. Under the Morrill Act of 1890, Missouri designated the school as a land-grant university, emphasizing agriculture, mechanics and teaching.By 1921, the college had expanded to offer graduate programs and was officially designated a university by the state of Missouri. It changed its name to "Lincoln University of Missouri."​ In 1954, it opened its doors to applicants of all races. It provides both undergraduate and graduate courses.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_University_(Missouri)