The mission of Lycoming College is to provide a distinguished baccalaureate education in the liberal arts. This is achieved within a coeducational, supportive, residential setting through programs that develop communication and critical thinking skills; foster self-awareness while increasing receptivity to new concepts and perspectives; explore literary and scientific traditions; cultivate an aesthetic sensibility; elicit social responsibility; promote racial inclusiveness, gender equality, and an appreciation of cultural diversity; and produce leadership for the institutions of society. Each student is encouraged to develop and strengthen virtues and traits of character that enable, ennoble, and emancipate the human spirit while deepening commitment to those values that undergird civilization.

Fully accredited, Lycoming is a member of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and the University Senate of The United Methodist Church. It is a member of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities, the Commission for Independent Colleges and Universities, the National Commission on Accrediting and the National Association of Schools and Colleges of The United Methodist Church.

Also, the Department of Chemistry is approved by the American Chemical Society to certify upon graduation those students who meet or exceed the requirements established by the Society for membership. The departments of Accounting and Business Administration are accredited by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs.

THE BACCALAUREATE DEGREE

Lycoming College is committed to the principle that a liberal arts education is the ideal foundation for an informed and productive life. The liberal arts - including the fine arts, the humanities, mathematics, the natural and social sciences - have created the social, political, economic and intellectual systems which help define contemporary existence. Therefore, it is essential that students grasp the modes of inquiry and knowledge associated with these disciplines.

Consequently, the Baccalaureate degree (Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science) is conferred upon the student who has completed an educational program incorporating the two principles of the liberal arts known as distribution and concentration. The objective of the distribution principle is to insure that the student achieves breadth in learning through the study of the major dimensions of human inquiry: the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. The objective of the concentration principle is to provide depth of learning through completion of a program of study in a given discipline or subject area known as the major. The effect of both principles is to impart knowledge, inspire inquiry, and encourage creative thought.