Spring Arbor College

Three Michigan institutions of higher education have had their roots here. The predecessor of Albion College, Spring Arbor Seminary, was chartered in 1835. Michigan Central College, founded in 1844, was located here until its removal in 1855 when it became Hillsdale College. Spring Arbor College was opened by Free Methodists in 1873 as an academy with elementary and secondary grades. In 1928 the elementary program was discontinued when a junior college was officially introduced. The high school was terminated in 1961 when a senior college was proposed. In September 1963 the first junior class was accepted into the regionally accredited four-year liberal arts college. Throughout its history, the Spring Arbor faculty and students have been dedicated to “the serious study of the liberal arts, commitment to Jesus Christ as a perspective for learning, and participation in the campus community and the contemporary world.”