Emmanuel College was founded in 1919 as the Franklin Springs Institute in Franklin Springs, GA. In its first years it taught high school courses grades eight through eleven and three college level courses. The first buildings were two hotels and a skating rink. In 1931, the college was forced to close for two years during the Great Depression. When the school reopened, the new president, Thomas Aaron, began to refocus the institute's priorities from being a high school to a college. In 1939, the name was changed to Emmanuel College and the high school was called Emmanuel Academy. The year 1967 saw the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools grant the two year college full accreditation. During the 1970s, a four-year School of Christian Ministries was established and accredited by the American Association of Bible Colleges and in 1991, major changes to curricular offerings also accompanied accreditation as a four-year institution from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The college is also a College Board Member. The school is continuing to support the Georgia Move On When Ready Program with the courses of Pre-Calculus, Calculus, English 101, and English 102.
Academics
The college has a student-faculty ratio of 15:1 and an acceptance rate of 43%. Emmanuel specializes in Christian ministry, education, and business majors, with the Teacher Education and Professional Development program being the most popular major at the college, 27% of enrolled undergraduate students. Other popular majors include: parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies, management, marketing, psychology, and general education. Emmanuel boasts a freshman retention rate of 60%. A wide majority of classes have fewer than 20 students, and almost all classes have fewer than 50. Emmanuel College offers over 30 areas of study and confers Associate degrees and bachelor's degrees through its four schools:
Although Emmanuel has a religious affiliation, it is not a faith based school. As such, there is no mandate on religious studies in their curriculum, but there is a weekly chapel service and convocation required for full-time students.
Athletics
Emmanuel College athletic teams are known as the Lions. The college is a member of the NCAA Division II, primarily competing in the Conference Carolinas. Emmanuel is also a member of the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse, and the Mid-America Men's Volleyball Intercollegiate Conference for men's volleyball. Emmanuel formerly competed in the Southern States Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In recent years, the college has expanded its athletic department. In 2012 Emmanuel College added men's and women's lacrosse, men's volleyball, and clay target shooting along with opening its athletic center that contains a basketball arena, volleyball court, an indoor track, a fitness center, an aerobics room, a swimming pool, a bowling alley, and a food court. The men's basketball team finished runners up in the NAIA National championship game in 2014, and the Cross Country Team finished third at Nationals in Fall of 2013. The college also announced that men's and women's swimming and men's and women's bowling will be added for the 2013–2014 academic year. The college competes in 12 men's, 12 women's and three co-ed sports: Wrestling has also been added and will start competing in the 2015–2016 school year. Men's sports
For men and women, Emmanuel also offers a wide variety of intramural sports including basketball, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and weightlifting.
Housing
A majority of students decide to live in the available on-campus dormitory housing, although that is not a requirement. In recent data, 84.6% of students choose to live on-campus while 14.9% live with family off-campus.
