Lycoming College

Lycoming College is a private liberal arts college in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1812, Lycoming College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church but operates as an independent institution. Through its history, it has been an academy, seminary, junior college, and four-year college. History Lycoming College traces its roots to 1812 and the founding of the "Williamsport Academy for the Education of Youth in English and other languages, in the useful arts, science and literature". Eight spirited citizens secured the charter for the school and founded the academy to improve the educational opportunities of the community. Attendance was by subscription, although a state grant ensured that a number of underprivileged children would be taught free of charge. The academy was for boys but accepted girls in the 1830s. It was one of the early academics in Pennsylvania which placed it on the frontier of academy-based education in the state. By 1847, Williamsport had a public school system in place. Benjamin H. Crever, a Methodist preacher based in Milton, heard the academy was for sale. Upon his recommendation, the Baltimore Conference purchased the school, which opened in the fall of 1848 as the Williamsport Dickinson Seminary, a preparatory school for Dickinson College, another Methodist school. Rev. Crever is considered to be the founder of Lycoming College, as he was the one to transition the high school into its collegiate beginnings. After turning the Williamsport Academy into an institution of higher learning, Crever moved on to serve as a chaplain in the Civil War and founded a total of four schools. Only Lycoming College remains as his educational legacy.