[3][4] Its primary goal was to prepare men for the priesthood of the New Church.

[2] In 1884, a girls' school, privately set up by Sarah DeCharms Hibbard, merged with the Academy.

[2] At the start of the 20th century, the schools relocated to what was then the countryside near Philadelphia, in Montgomery County.

[2] Funding from PPG Industries founder John Pitcairn enabled the construction of the new campus.

Later, in the 1960s, the college moved to a separate, adjacent campus.