Original sentence: A few formerly private schools were opened before UNC, but none became public institutions until much later.The second public university by charter, the University of North Carolina was the first to hold classes and to graduate students.Which of these schools should be called the oldest state university is a subject of debate; however, the University of North Carolina is the only university in the United States that awarded degrees as a public institution in the eighteenth century
Edited sentence: Although UNC was the first university in the United States to graduate students, it was not the first to be chartered.Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, was chartered in 1766 and opened in 1771, but did not become the state university until 1956.The College of Charleston opened in 1770, and was chartered in 1785, but was a private school until 1836, when it became a municipal college; it did not join the South Carolina state university system until 1970.The College of William and Mary was founded in 1693, but was a private institution until it closed in 1882; it later re-opened as a public university in 1888.Which of these schools should be called the oldest state university is a subject of debate; however, UNC is the only university in the United States that awarded degrees as a public institution in the eighteenth century