Georgetown College is a small, private liberal arts college located in Georgetown, Kentucky, United States. Chartered as a college in 1829, Georgetown College was the first Baptist college west of the Allegheny Mountains. The school offers many undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in Education. In 1829, the Kentucky Legislature chartered the Kentucky Baptist Education Society with the purpose of establishing a Baptist college in the state. Twenty-four trustees under the leadership of Silas Noel selected the town of Georgetown as the site for the new school. Georgetown was selected because the community agreed to raise $20,000 and to donate the assets of Rittenhouse Academy, a failed land grant school in the town that had recently closed. Rittenhouse Academy was the predecessor of Royal Springs school. Georgetown College's beginning years were wrought with tragedy and disputes. The first president of the college, William D. Staughton, died before assuming his duties. The second president, Rev. Joel Smith Bacon, stayed two years before leaving out of frustration. In 1839, Rev. Rockwood Giddings became the third president of the college.