C. The first college in America.
Harvard College, now known as Harvard University, was established in 1636 by the Massachusetts colonial legislature, led by the Puritans. It was founded to train Puritan ministers, who would then go on to lead congregations and promote religious education throughout the colony. The school was named for its first benefactor, clergyman John Harvard, who left his library and half his estate to the new institution.
Harvard College was the first institution of higher learning established in the colonies that would later become the United States. While there were other schools and institutions that existed in the colonies at the time, such as the College of William and Mary (1693) and the College of New Jersey (later Princeton, 1746), Harvard College was the first to be chartered as a college and to award degrees.
It's not only the first religious school established by the Puritans but also the first institution of higher learning in America and it has grown to become one of the most prestigious and renowned academic institutions in the world.