In 1866 Foster headed the new college in Jefferson City, the Lincoln Institute, with financial support from his former regiment.
After African-American soldiers were authorized to join the Union Army in 1863, Foster volunteered to serve as an officer for a black regiment.
Foster advocated that the reopening of Central Methodist University include allowing black students to join, but he was rebuffed.
[1] The school struggled financially, and Foster employed Charles A. Beal, Henry Ward Beecher, and Frederick Douglass to serve as fundraisers with some success.
Foster served as the school's president and sole teacher until 1868, when he hired W. H. Payne, an African American, to teach.
This plan was rejected, but with the help of politicians James Milton Turner and Moses Dickson, it gained increased state funding,[1] with the condition that Foster raise $15,000 first.
With the help of the Western Sanitary Commission and the Freedmen's Bureau, Foster raised the money, and the school's finances were greatly improved.
[3] Under the Morrill Act of 1890, Missouri designated the school as a land-grant university, emphasizing agriculture, mechanics, and teaching.