Lebanon Valley College (also referred to as "LVC", "Lebanon Valley" and "The Valley") is a small, liberal arts higher education institution situated in the heart of Annville in Lebanon County, 19.5 mi (31.4 km) east of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Lebanon Valley was founded on February 23, 1866, with classes beginning May 7 of that year and its first class graduating in 1870. Expenses at this time for a full year were $206.50 and remained relatively unchanged for the next 50 years. The College was founded by and initially associated with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Today, Lebanon Valley College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, which happened through a series of church mergers: The Church of the United Brethren in Christ merged with the Evangelical Synod of North America in 1946 creating the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB), which subsequently merged with the Methodist Church in 1968 to create the United Methodist Church. 1 The ties to the Methodist Church are not as strong as they once were, which is evidenced by the lack of mandatory chapel services, but the church maintains a presence on the campus.