Carroll University is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian church located in Waukesha in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Carroll opened in 1846, two years before Wisconsin became a state. Before July 1, 2008, Carroll University was known as Carroll College. Carroll University claims to be the oldest college in Wisconsin, however this claim is also held by Beloit College. Prairieville Academy, which eventually became Carroll College (and subsequently Carroll University), was founded in 1841. Three years later, in summer of 1844, the genesis for Beloit College came in the form of a group of New Englanders calling themselves "Friends of Education," who gathered to discuss the formation of a "frontier college." The charter for Carroll – named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence – was passed into law by the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature on January 31, 1846. Beloit's charter followed shortly on February 2, giving rise to Carroll's claim to be the oldest four-year institution in Wisconsin.