As a means to support the school, a one-dollar donation was requested from each Freemason in Kentucky. Tuition was six dollars, but was waived for students whose father was a Mason and was either very poor, or dead.[1][5]
The first president of the Masonic University was J.R. Finley, who was paid a yearly salary of $750. Finley traveled throughout the United States from 1844 to 1846 to attain "books, maps, and mineralogical specimens" from various Masonic lodges. The journey also saw fifty-eight new students for the school, including one from Spain and four from France.[1]
Students at the school did not live on campus, but instead boarded in nearby homes. However, they never studied at the homes, but instead in the individual school rooms under the supervision of one of the professors. The schools were nonsectarian; students could attend who had no relationship to a Freemason. The commencement ceremonies, first held on July 23, 1847, were not open to the general public. Subjects taught were reading, writing, math, Greek, Latin, and bookkeeping. It was mandatory for those who attended the university due to charity to learn one of the following: carpentry, coopering, horseshoeing, horticulture, or smithing.[1][5]
