Nichols College is a private, co-educational, four-year institution of higher learning that is located in Dudley, Massachusetts. Nichols has many diverse majors that mainly focus on business and liberal arts. The school also offers an MBA program for graduate students. Nichols College athletics compete in the NCAA at the Division III level. Their teams are known as the Bison and Lady Bison. All of Nichols College athletic fields are located on campus in Dudley Hill. The college was originally founded in 1815 as Nichols Academy. The founder was Amasa Nichols, a wealthy industrialist in Dudley, MA. The school is the oldest in Worcester County, and one of the oldest in the country. Early benefactors of the academy included textile manufacturers Samuel Slater and Hezekiah Conant. Nichols Academy closed its doors in 1909 but the closing was only temporary. In 1931, James L. Conrad founded Nichols Junior College at the closed Nichols Academy location. The college was a men-only college, and was the first junior college in Massachusetts to be granted the authority to grant an associates degree in Business Administration.