Centenary College of Louisiana is a primarily undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is one of the founding members of the Associated Colleges of the South, a pedagogical organization consisting of sixteen Southern liberal arts colleges. Centenary College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Centenary College of Louisiana is the oldest chartered liberal arts college in the United States west of the Mississippi River. The lineage of the college dates back to 1825, when the College of Louisiana was opened in Jackson, Louisiana. The school enjoyed early success, but struggled financially until Centenary College of Clinton, Mississippi (founded 1839) agreed to merge with the Jackson campus, creating Centenary College of Louisiana in 1845. The college prospered until the beginning of the American Civil War.