Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Middlebury is the first American institution of higher education known to have granted a bachelor's degree to an African-American, graduating Alexander Twilight in the class of 1823. Middlebury was also one of the first formerly all-male liberal arts colleges in New England to become a coeducational institution, following the trustees' decision, in 1883, to accept women.