Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college located in Conway, Arkansas. The student body averages around 1,400 and currently represents forty-three states and fourteen foreign countries. In US News and World Report's America's Best Colleges, Hendrix is ranked annually in the top tier of liberal arts colleges. In the 2008 edition Hendrix is ranked 71st in the nation. In 2009, Forbes ranked it 81st of America's Best Colleges. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church; however, the curriculum is secular and the student body is composed of people from many different religious backgrounds. Hendrix is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South. Its current president is Dr. James Timothy Cloyd. Hendrix College is listed in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives. Hendrix College was founded as a primary school called Central Institute in 1876 at Altus, Arkansas, by Rev. Isham L. Burrow. In 1881 it was renamed Central Collegiate Institute when secondary and collegiate departments were added. By 1886, three conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South purchased the school.