Spartanburg Methodist College is a private, two-year institution of higher learning, or junior college, located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It is the only independent, regionally-accredited, residential two-year college in South Carolina. As a junior college, SMC gives students the opportunity to focus on their freshman and sophomore years of college in order to prepare to transfer to a four-year college or university. SMC offers a liberal arts curriculum designed to help prepare students for this transition. Spartanburg Methodist College was founded as Textile Industrial Institute in 1911 by Dr. David English Camak, a visionary Methodist minister. At its founding as a work-study cooperative, TII served young adults working in area textile mills by offering high school level courses in preparation for advanced education or employment. In this first cooperative education program in the country, students worked a week and then took classes for a week. This arrangement enabled the school to provide resources for education and for life.