In September 1961, the first students stepped onto the grounds of a spacious, lake-centred campus that only a short time earlier had been named St. Andrews Presbyterian College. Long before the arrival of those first students, Presbyterians across North Carolina, laity and clergy, had committed themselves to this new adventure in higher education.
The history of St. Andrews began in 1896 with the founding of Flora Macdonald College in Red Springs, NC. In 1958, Flora Macdonald College merged with Presbyterian Junior College in Maxton, NC to establish St. Andrews. In 1996, St. Andrews celebrated the Centennial Anniversary of its heritage by hosting a series of events and celebrations. In honour of the occasion, 800 plus alumni, faculty, students, staff and friends, gathered for this birthday party to recognize the shared history of the three institutions.