Bates College is a private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists. Bates confers Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees. Bates College is one of the first colleges in the United States to be coeducational from establishment, and is also the oldest continuously operating coeducational institution in New England. The college enrolls about 1,700 students. Originally a Free Will Baptist institution, Bates is now a nonsectarian institution.