Company Profile
Young Harris College
Company Overview
Young Harris College is a private, baccalaureate degree-granting college located in the beautiful mountains of north Georgia. Founded in 1886 and historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Young Harris College educates, inspires and empowers students through the highest quality liberal arts education. The College currently has more than 1,200 students across five divisions—Education, Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics and Science, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The historic campus in Young Harris, Ga., is currently undergoing major campus improvements to accommodate the College’s growth. Recent LEED-certified campus improvements include a 226-bed residence hall for freshmen, a 57,000-square-foot recreation and fitness center, and a 248-bed apartment-style residential village. Construction is complete on the 121,000-square-foot Rollins Campus Center, the new social and intellectual heart of campus. In 2014, the College was granted active membership in NCAA Division II and remains a fierce competitor in the prestigious Peach Belt Conference. YHC is among fewer than 300 colleges and universities nationwide named to the 2014-2015 list of Colleges of Distinction.
Company History
Young Harris College was conceived in the mind of Reverend Artemas Lester, a circuit-riding Methodist minister, and it was through his efforts that the institution became a reality. When it became evident during the College’s first year of existence that financial support was needed, Judge Young L.G. Harris of Athens, Georgia, provided generous financial support which enabled the mountain school to continue to operate. After 1886, Judge Harris continued to contribute substantially annually. Originally known as McTyeire Institute, for the town in which it was located, the College’s name was soon changed to honor its first great benefactor. The name of the surrounding village was also later changed to Young Harris by an act of the Georgia legislature.
From its beginning, Young Harris was more than just a school for young men and women of the mountains. Because of its academic standing and Christian tradition, the College attracted Students from across Georgia, from the southeast and, in due time, from foreign countries.
Today the Student body is drawn from more than 100 counties in Georgia and from many other states and countries. Young Harris sends back to these places, in the words of one of its graduates, “…men and women able to serve their communities and their God, for in the mountain College of North Georgia, they found a place in society and a faith to live by.”