Jasper Collegiate Institute, the first local center for higher learning, opened in 1851 as a partially tax-supported coeducational school. Its first president was noted East Texas educator Marcus Montrose, a graduate of Edinburgh University. After losses caused by the Civil War from 1861 to 1865, it was succeeded in 1878 by Southeast Texas Male and Female College, which attained enviable status and enjoyed the financial support of Jasper citizens before closing in 1910. Its properties, including a new building erected in 1900, were deeded to the elementary and high schools of Jasper.