Mission Statement:

Blackburn College, founded in 1837 and affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), provides a coeducational student body with a rigorous, distinctive, and affordable liberal arts education that prepares graduates to be responsible, productive citizens. The Blackburn community values critical and independent thinking, leadership development, respect for all individuals, and lifelong learning. The College fosters a sense of service, community, and moral responsibility through its unique student-managed work program, its collegial concept of shared governance, and its faculty/staff mentor relationship with students.

History:

There is no other college or university in the United States quite like Blackburn College. Our unique campus culture is the byproduct of the purposeful melding of our nationally acclaimed student-managed Work Program and rigorous liberal arts academic curriculum. The result is a unique living laboratory for learning where the boundaries between job and classroom are blurred, and mentoring from faculty and staff knows no clock.

Since 1913, Blackburn's student managed Work Program has made the dream of a college education affordable for thousands of first generation students by keeping the cost of our private liberal arts education within their reach. Over the years, our students have built Blackburn - literally brick by brick. In fact, Blackburn enjoys the distinction of being the only college campus in the United States to have been largely built by its students. Today our students carry on this tradition by staffing mission critical jobs as plumbers, carpenters, painters, landscapers, cooks, servers, administrators, computer technicians, janitors, graphic artists, security officers, assistant coaches, tutors and teaching assistants.

At Blackburn, students are fully vested in every aspect of their college experience, whether it's success in the classroom, managing or staffing their campus job or in governing the life of the institution.