The Spring Arbor Campus

The Spring Arbor Campus. From Spring Arbor Seminary to Spring Arbor University,. , Free Methodist Movement Pursues Educational Freedom , In 1872, Free Methodist leaders bought and developed 10 acres of land that housed two vacant buildings for the purpose of founding Spring Arbor Seminary (see image below left). They hoped to combine sound and thorough scholarship with careful religious training-a commitment that still guides Spring Arbor University today. In the 1920s, the school added junior college level courses and changed its name to Spring Arbor Seminary and Junior College. In the early 1960s, the high school program ended and the school received collegiate accreditation, becoming Spring Arbor College. After adding additional programs for adults and graduates over the years, in 2001, the school officially became Spring Arbor University, an accredited university with a wide range of degree offerings. While the school's enrollment, offerings, and names have changed, the education provided throughout Spring Arbor's campuses has been consistently devoted to being a community of learners distinguished by a lifelong involvement in the study and application of liberal arts, a total commitment to Jesus Christ as the perspective for learning and critical participation in the contemporary world., Spring Arbor Seminary, founded in 1873, was located near the site of a former Potawatomi Indian village and built on property that once belonged to Michigan Central College (now Hillsdale College). Devoted to the promotion of earnest Christianity and sound learning, the Seminary was open to all children, regardless of religious conviction or belief.