They did attend one class with the men, metaphysics, taught by then-President Braxton Craven. When the sisters lost all of their savings following the collapse of a bank in Greensboro, they were forced to go back to teaching in order to raise the money to pay tuition for their tutors (they paid the same amount in tuition as the male students at Trinity paid). They each taught in surrounding communities four or five months, and took classes the remainder of the year. Mary Giles taught in Tarboro, North Carolina. By 1878, Theresa, Mary, and Persis had completed all of the requisite coursework at Trinity College. As such, they were allowed to stand for the comprehensive exams taken by all students wishing to graduate. They passed, and President Craven went on to submit their names—along with those of the male students who passed—to the Board of Trustees for consideration. On June 12, 1878, the Board of Trustees "recommended for full and regular graduation to the degree of Bachelor of Arts." As a result of this extraordinary measure, Theresa, Mary, and Persis Giles are considered the first female graduates of Duke University, despite never having been officially admitted or enrolled at Trinity. Together with their younger sister Sue, Persis, Mary, and Theresa Giles founded the Greenwood Female College in Greenwood, South Carolina in 1885, along with the Misses' Giles School for younger girls. Greenwood was chosen for two reasons: first, their brother, E.S.F., had set up a law practice in town. Second, Greenwood was, at the time, lacking any higher education facility. Over the next several decades, Mary, Theresa, and Persis Giles, along with the staff at the schools, educated hundreds of young women in the area. For the first time, the young ladies received an education that was as good as or better than that offered to the area's young men. The Giles sisters evidently considered travel an important part of their education, though they did not always enjoy it. They made several major trips abroad, including a trip made by Mary and Persis to Europe in 1889. They also eventually traveled to India with a Christian teacher’s organization. While traveling, the sisters wrote columns for newspapers in the Carolinas, including the Abbeville "Press and Banner" and the local Greenwood paper. A women’s dormitory was built in their honor at the Woman’s College at Duke University in 1927. It is now a dormitory housing 115 first-year students.