[11] The Kharkіv Collegium was closed in 1817 and was re-organised as the Kharkov Theological Seminary, a higher educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, training clergy, teachers, scholars, and officials.

The Kharkiv Collegium was also named the Tikhorian Academy in honour of its co-founder Epiphanius [ru], who served as a Bischof of the Diocese of Belgorod.

The formation of the Kharkiv Collegium was facilitated by the broad charitable support of various segments of the population of Sloboda Ukraine, thanks to which it developed significant land and economic holdings.

The curriculum, which was similar to that of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and of Moscow University, involved the teaching of poetry, rhetoric, philosophy, theology, Greek, Latin and Russian.

Subjects introduced at this time included engineering, artillery, music, dance, drawing, art, and architecture, mathematics, history, geography, and other languages.