Free Methodist Church leader Edward Payson Hart was the main force behind the founding of Spring Arbor University in 1873 for children. Named after the unincorporated community in Michigan where it is located, the institution eventually became a four-year institution of higher learning, as well as the state’s largest Evangelical Christian university. In addition to its sprawling 100-acre main campus, Spring Arbor has 18 learning sites across the state, which include Flint, Lansing, Kalamazoo, and two in Detroit (Dearborn and Troy). The university also has four learning sites in Ohio.
Spring Arbor has over 2,900 students, more than 80 percent of who are from Michigan. Also, the student body represents more than 40 Christian denominations. The school offers more than 90 undergraduate majors and graduate and adult/professional programs. They are offered via the university’s four schools: the Gainey School of Business, the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, and the School of Graduate and Professional Studies.
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Ten of Spring Arbor’s programs are online degree programs, offered by the school’s SAU Online initiative. Students can choose to get an Associate of Science in Business; it is the only associate-level online program. At the undergraduate level, there are the Bachelor of Science in Business and the Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management. The graduate-level online programs consist of the MBA, in addition to the following concentrations: Communication, Education, TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), Reading, Nursing, and Spiritual Formation and Leadership.
Still affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, Spring Arbor University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. The university gets its full accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, as well as the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.
