Rochester College’s mission is to engage students in a vigorous liberal arts education within a Christian community for a life of study and service.

A brief history of Rochester College. Rochester’s roots reach to 1949, when Harmon Black and James Groves taught night courses at the Hamilton and Tuxedo Church of Christ in Detroit. Black’s and Groves’ experiment inspired Christians from southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio to envision a school that would prepare their sons and daughters for good careers and bless them in the Name of Jesus Christ.

These Christians saw the first light of their vision when North Central Christian College opened its doors to 54 students in 1959. Since then, North Central Christian College—later called Michigan Christian College, and finally, Rochester College—became the place where thousands of men and women came of age in Christ and set out with their college degrees to serve churches, businesses, communities, homes, and schools.

Growing into the 21st century. Black and Groves would be amazed to see how Rochester College grew up from an idea born in a church basement to become an accredited, four-year liberal arts college with about 1,000 students and nearly 5,500 alumni worldwide. In the last ten years, Rochester:

• Enrollment grew almost 400 percent
  
• Faculty grew over 300 percent
  
• Added three Bachelor’s degrees and two accelerated Bachelor’s degrees in 20 major fields of study
  
• Constructed a state-of-the-art library (2002)
  
• Installed network access in almost every indoor public space
  
• Announced plans to construct the largest new academic structure in the College’s history, a $4.5 million multipurpose center by December 2004

Our vision for the future. Today, we share the Spirit of the vision Black and Groves first saw in 1949. To realize that vision in the 21st century, in 2001, the College published a strategic plan entitled Raising the Standard, which calls for:

• Enrollment of 3,000 students by 2020
  
• Continuous quality enrichment for Bachelor’s programs to meet or exceed those at other regional colleges and universities
  
• Bachelor’s programs such as pre-medicine, and new Master’s programs in business administration, counseling psychology, and religion
  
• A diverse student body with a record of academic excellence and a passion for Jesus Christ
  
• A campus that houses the best academic, recreational, and residential resources in the region while preserving the College’s natural features
  
• Development of one of the best Christian faculties in the Midwest
  
• Graduation of the intercollegiate athletic program into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
  
• Blessing the Churches of Christ in particular and all Christians in general in the Great Lakes Region by providing qualified servant leaders who embody the Spirit of Christ
  
• Blessing the Detroit metro area in particular, and all of southeastern Michigan and the Great Lakes Region in general, by providing excellent citizens, employees, and neighbors