Lancaster Bible College and Graduate School

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Lancaster Bible College and Graduate School
901 Eden Road
Lancaster, PA 17601

717.569.7071 or 800.544.7335

About LBC

Celebrating God's Faithfulness Since 1933

Lancaster Bible College was founded by Henry J. Heydt in September 1933. Eight day students and 14 evening students were enrolled in the original class, which met in the Convention Hall at West Orange and Pine Streets in Lancaster. At this time, there was no tuition and there were no stated salaries. Since there was also no library, Dr. Heydt made his own extensive library available to students. The first graduating class consisted of five students.

William J. Randolph (Class of 1950) succeeded Heydt as president. From 1954 to 1961, President Randolph moved the school toward accreditation and the size of the campus grew, initiated by a gift of land on May 2, 1957, from Mr. and Mrs. J. Martin Esbenshade.

At the conclusion of Randolph's term, in 1961, the school's academic dean, Stuart E. Lease, was elected as the new president. After his seventeen-year presidency, the campus had grown to 36 acres with more than 400 students. In 1973, the school received a letter from the Secretary of Education indicating that it had earned provisional approval to grant the degree of Bachelor of Science in Bible. With that letter, the school officially became Lancaster Bible College (LBC).

When Dr. Gilbert A. Peterson began his duties as president in 1979, he focused on debt reduction. Within only five years, the college raised more than $500,000 toward financial stability and $1,667,150 toward the school's endowment. Construction began on the Academic Center, and additional land was purchased, bringing the campus size to 100 acres.

In 1999, Dr. Peter W. Teague became the College's fifth and current president. Since then, the 1,200-seat Good Shepherd Chapel, Olewine Dining Commons, and Peterson Hall were completed. In February 2007, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools approved LBC offering the Bachelor of Science in Bible degree completely online.

For over 75 years, LBC's mission has remained unchanged: educating Christian men and women to live according to a biblical world view and to serve through professional Christian ministries.

Lancaster Bible College and Graduate School is an accredited, non-denominational institution.

LBC is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA) and the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), and is approved by the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). LBC is also an affiliate member of the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).