Work was begun on establishing the college in 1855, under the influence of Aaron Chatterson and was affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

[3] Mary Bell Smith, who went on to become the president of the Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union, taught at Oskaloosa College, from 1863 to 1865.

[4] In 1881, all but one of the faculty left the college to start a new school in Des Moines, Iowa, which would later become Drake University;[5][6] they were also joined by 47 (out of 300) students.

[5] For a good portion of its history, the school endured severe financial hardship, which eventually led to its demise in 1898.

This article about a university or college in Iowa is a stub.