History
1939-1975
The story of the University of Valley Forge began in 1939 in Green Lane, PA with the small school of Eastern Bible Institute (EBI). The Eastern Bible Institute charter was granted to train pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and Christian educators and lay workers. There were 35 students enrolled the first year.
In 1962, after consolidation with a number of other Bible Institutes in the northeast, EBI became Northeast Bible Institute (NBI). The next year, the four-year Bible College program was officially inaugurated, in addition to the three-year program. In 1967, NBI earned accreditation from the American Association of Bible Colleges. In 1975, the school received state recognition with the authority to grant Bachelor of Science in Bible degrees, and the name became Northeast Bible College.
1974-1977
By this time, the school had outgrown its facilities in Green Lane, PA. In 1974, President Obie L. Harrup, Sr. (1972-1979) visited the site of the closed Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville, PA. God spoke to him and revealed this location as the future home of NBI. While their initial application was turned down, God was faithful, and the land was granted to the school from the federal government. In January 1977, classes began on the new campus under the name of Valley Forge Christian College (VFCC).
2002-Present
VFCC was quickly approved to grant bachelor’s degrees in religious education by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, afforded to nearly all the major educational institutions throughout the Northeast, followed in 2002. In addition, the curriculum rapidly expanded to include more than 40 undergraduate programs and 6 graduate programs, many available online.
On September 16, 2014, VFCC became the University of Valley Forge. Rev. David J. Kim was inaugurated as UVF’s 10th president on October 12, 2017. The University of Valley Forge (UVF) is affiliated with the Assemblies of God. To read the history of the Assemblies of God, click here.
