Adrian College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

This institution merged with Leoni Seminary, another Methodist school, in 1855 to form Michigan Union College.

In the early stages of the Civil War the college volunteered itself as a base for the formation of Michigan regiments for the Union side.

[5] The inscription reads: Chartered on March 28, 1859, Adrian College traces its origins back to a Wesleyan Methodist theological institute founded at Leoni, Michigan in 1845.

[6] The inscriptions read: Camp Williams At the outbreak of the Civil War in early 1861, the trustees of Adrian College offered the use of campus buildings and grounds to the Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry for training.

The 1,025 soldiers came from Adrian, Ann Arbor, Dexter, Jonesville, Hudson, Sturgis, Monroe, Hillsdale, Tecumseh, and Trenton.

In spring 1861 the Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry departed Adrians' Camp Williams for service in the Civil War.

The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and saw action in forty-one engagements, including Gaines Mills, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Petersburg.

More recently, current President Jeff Docking has introduced many plans to revitalize Adrian College and its campus, including the construction of new buildings, renovation of old ones, and programs related to athletics.

Many of these initiatives are grouped under his "Renaissance I and II Projects" and include the new facilities such as: Arrington Ice Arena, a Multi-Sport Performance (Football) Stadium, Ritchie Marketplace (Dining Hall) Expansion, Athletic Training Laboratory & Human Performance Lab, College View North Apartments, Indoor Baseball & Softball Practice Facility, Terrace at Caine Student Center, and a new Grounds and Maintenance Facility.

Graduate programs exist in: Accounting, Athletic Training, Criminal Justice, Industrial Chemistry, Teacher Education, and Sports Administration and Leadership.

The college was found guilty of eleven violations of the law that governs gender equality, and agreed to make several changes to its athletic programs.

The men's Division III team received national attention on the eve of Selection Sunday of the 2007–08 season on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" as Mitch Albom, columnist from the Detroit Free Press, used his closing remarks to highlight the remarkable ride of the hockey team's season (their first at the NCAA level).

On March 30, 2017, Adrian College athletic director, Michael Duffy, announced that men's and women's rowing would be added.

In their first season in the MARC, the men's team finished eighth out of twenty, while the women placed sixth out of eleven.