A pressing need for teachers throughout the Southeast in the late 19th century prompted David Bancroft Johnson, a prominent South Carolina educator, to solicit outside support for teacher education. Robert C. Winthrop, a Boston philanthropist, provided funding to establish a training school for teachers, and in September 1886, the "Winthrop Training School" was founded. Today, Winthrop  University's Richard W. Riley College of Education enjoys a century-old heritage as a pre-eminent teacher preparation program in the Southeast.    

The RWR College of Education is proud of its accreditations and affiliations.  The teacher education program at Winthrop University is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) for the preparation of early childhood, elementary, middle level, special education, physical education and secondary teachers through the Bachelor's degree.   Each of these programs is also accredited by the appropriate specialized professional association: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI), National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), and the Council on Exceptional Children (CEC).  The Sport Management program is accredited by the North American Society for Sport Management  (NASSM), and the Athletic Training Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).

At the graduate level, the Master of Science, the Master of Education and the Master of Arts in Teaching degrees are nationally accredited by NCATE. The Master of Science in Counseling and Development program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and the Master of Educational Leadership by the Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC).

All teacher education and other programs are approved by the South Carolina State Board of Education and the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.   Recognition by these agencies affords students who complete programs in the College of Education at Winthrop University the opportunity to apply for reciprocal accreditations with a majority of states in the nation.