The beginning of educational work on what is now the campus of Ursinus College dates back to the construction two centuries ago of a primitive log schoolhouse.  The original building was razed in 1832 when Todd’s School was built in the town of Perkiomen Bridge, now Collegeville.  In 1848 Freeland Seminary was opened on an adjacent tract.  During the following two decades, hundreds of young men were educated there.

In 1867, members of the German Reformed Church, actuated by a desire to serve the interests of higher education and of evangelical Christian religion, laid plans to establish a college where, to quote their works, young men could be “liberally educated under the benign influence of Christianity." They chose as the name of the College that of the distinguished sixteenth-century scholar and reformer, Zacharias Ursinus of the University of Heidelberg, Germany.  In 1869, the legislature of Pennsylvania granted a charter to Ursinus College.  The buildings of the Freeland Seminary were acquired, and instruction was begun on September 6, 1870.  Women were formally admitted to the College for the first time in 1881.

Coincident with the founding of the College was the establishment of a preparatory department as a successor to Freeland Seminary.  The preparatory school was called Ursinus Academy and was operated as such until 1920, when it was discontinued.

In 1952 the College established the evening undergraduate program for adults.  Since then many successful adults have earned Ursinus degrees at night.  In addition, thousands of other adult students have satisfied personal and professional learning needs by taking individual evening credit, non-credit, and certification courses.

Although independent of church control, Ursinus College is voluntarily related to the United Church of Christ through its Council for Higher Education.  The college has been church-related since its founding in 1869 by pastors and lay members of the German Reformed Church.

The inclusive spirit of the Reformed Church led to unions with the Evangelical Synod of North America to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church in 1934 and with the Congregational Christian Churches in 1957 to form what is now the United Church of Christ.

This broad and open religious tradition stresses the importance of intellectual development and strongly affirms higher education.  By virtue of its association with the church through decades, Ursinus has always given priority to the development of high ethical standards, personal values, and an understanding of others.  Today, the Christian principles and traditions of the College continue to reinforce its educational mission.  They help to inform the college community, which is composed of persons of many religious persuasions, in the search for an understanding of peace, justice, and the need for human cooperation.