Clarks Summit University is a private Baptist Bible college in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. It offers on-campus and online degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels.^[5] These include a high-school dual enrollment option, as well as associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.^[6] Clarks Summit offers master's and doctoral degrees in remote, on-campus and web-enhanced options.^[7]

History

The school was founded as the Baptist Bible Seminary in 1932 in Johnson City, New York.

For its first 36 years, the college used the facilities of First Baptist Church in Johnson City. Additional buildings were purchased or built to accommodate the growing student body.

Steady growth of enrollment by the 1960s prompted school leaders to search for a new location. In 1968, a site in Clarks Summit was found with the help of Gov. William Scranton.^[8]

The school received its accreditation from the Association for Biblical Higher Education in 1968 and received approval to grant degrees from the Pennsylvania Department of Education in 1969. These developments, along with the offering of associates of arts degrees, led the school to change its name again in 1971, becoming the Baptist Bible College of Pennsylvania.^[9]

The separate Baptist Bible Seminary was spun off in 1972, taking on the original name of the college from its foundation in 1934. Graduate studies began in 1989.^[10]

The name was changed to the current Clarks Summit University in 2016.^[10]

Campus

Clarks Summit University is located on a 141-acre (57 ha) suburban campus. The site includes 17 major buildings, athletic facilities, and a 4.5-acre lake.^[11]

Huckaby Gymnasium in the Phelps Student Center hosts home basketball and volleyball contests ^[12]

Academics

The university has more than 80 programs including associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. All students who earn a bachelor's degree earn a major in Biblical Studies as well as their chosen career major. Clarks Summit University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Association of Biblical Higher Education. Its education programs are approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.^[13]

Athletics

The Clarks Summit Defenders colors are royal blue, silver (cool gray), and black (charcoal).

The Clarks Summit Defenders field teams in several sports. Men's teams include soccer, basketball, golf, cross-country, tennis, volleyball and baseball. Women's teams include basketball, cross-country, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball.^[14]

Clarks Summit University is affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and compete in the United East Conference after the conference merged with the Colonial States Athletic Conference, which the Defenders were full time members of at the time.

Athletic history includes 75 National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division II East Regional Championships in seven sports and 23 NCCAA Division II National Championships in six sports. Defender teams have appeared in three NCAA Division III national tournaments (tennis, volleyball, and women's basketball). The Lady Defender basketball team earned a spot in the NCAA DIII playoffs after winning the Colonial States Athletic Conference championship in 2022.^[15] Clarks Summit University has had two individual National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) champions in wrestling. The university currently does not sponsor wrestling of any level.