Philander Smith College

Philander Smith College is a private historically black college, four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution, located in Little Rock, Arkansas . Philander Smith College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Philander Smith College is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Philander is also classified as a baccalaureate (liberal arts) college by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The college offers four degrees: the bachelor of arts, the bachelor of science, the bachelor of business administration, and the bachelor of social work. Founded in 1877, Philander Smith College is the result of the first attempt west of the Mississippi River to make education available to freedmen (former African American slaves). The forerunner of the college was Walden Seminary, named in honor of Dr. J.M. Walden, one of the originators and the first corresponding secretary of the Freedmen's Aid Society. Philander Smith College was chartered as a four-year college on March 3, 1883. The first baccalaureate degree was conferred in 1888. In July 1948 the site of the Little Rock Junior College, adjacent to the South end of Philander Smith's campus, was purchased. On March 30, 1949, after an extensive program of academic improvement, Philander Smith College was fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.