Chartered in 1887 by the leaders of the Church of the Brethren, McPherson College provides career-oriented liberal arts education. It is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association. Recognizing the need for a college west of the Mississippi River to serve the educational needs of families moving westward, Church of the Brethren leaders at their Annual Meeting in 1887 decided to investigate potential sites. In August of the same year McPherson, Kansas, in McPherson County was chosen and McPherson College and Institute was founded. With the construction of the Dormitory, a single building which served as residence hall, college, and library, the first academic semester opened on September 5, 1888, with sixty students and a faculty of seven. By the end of the first school year nearly two-hundred students had enrolled and the foundation had been laid for the main building. In 1898, Sharp Hall was completed, though it had been used for school purposes for some time while still incomplete. On February 12, 1898, the school was officially christened "McPherson College.