Tennessee Wesleyan College is a small liberal arts college founded in 1857, located in the East Tennessee city of Athens. It is affiliated with the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. Current enrollment is over 850 students, and the student/faculty ratio is 12:1. The College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate degrees of business, fine arts, humanities, natural and social sciences as well as nursing, other career-related areas, and teacher certification. TWC also maintains a branch campus in Knoxville, where it offers evening programs in business administration. It also conducts its nursing classes in Knoxville. Tennessee Wesleyan offers 10 varsity sports, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs compete in the Appalachian Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in baseball, basketball, soccer, cross country, tennis, volleyball, cheerleading, softball, and lacrosse. Athletics are a very important part of the school, and a very large portion of the student population play on one the school's teams.