[6] Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and six pre-professional programs with undergraduate degrees in the liberal arts, sciences, business, education, engineering, and music.

[14] As World War II began, Grove City College was one of six schools selected by the United States Navy to participate in the highly unusual Electronics Training Program (ETP).

The court ruled 6–3 that acceptance by students of federal educational grants fell under the regulatory requirements of Title IX, but it limited the application to the school's financial aid department.

"[28] In recent years, the college has engaged in many new construction projects, including an expansion to its music and arts center in 2002, a new academic building in 2003, a new student union/bookstore in 2004, and new apartment-style housing in 2006.

The $37.2 million science, engineering, and mathematics building is designed to support new modes of teaching, particularly flexible laboratories and small-group interactions.

"It will help ensure that Grove City College continues to prepare students for future careers in an increasingly competitive workforce", officials said.

[31] STEM Hall was opened in August 2013 and provides laboratory space for students studying biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science.

[32] In the summer of 2021, Grove City announced that the campus' Henry Buhl Library would be majorly renovated, with the addition of classroom space, updated study areas, and a cafe.

In 2019, Grove City announced a new partnership with Butler County Community College to provide a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

[citation needed] A three-year required Humanities sequence focuses on the origin, development, and implications of civilization's seminal ideas and worldviews.

The National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise[46] an organization that seeks to provide effective community and faith-based organizations with training and technical assistance, links them to sources of support, and evaluates their experience for public policy to address the problems of youth violence, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, homelessness, joblessness, poor education, and deteriorating neighborhoods, publicizes events held at Grove City College.

[citation needed] The Lone Mountain Coalition, part of the Property and Environment Research Center,[47] which claims to be "America's oldest and largest institute dedicated to original research that brings market principles to resolving environmental problems", has ties to Grove City through Michael Coulter, Vice-President of the Shenango Institute for Public Policy, and associate professor of political science at Grove City College.

[citation needed] Several members of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a libertarian academic organization, are also faculty at Grove City.

[citation needed] When it opened, Grove City College was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the United States to admit both male and female students.

[50] Grove City College adopts a strong policy regarding alcohol use on campus, with first-time offenders receiving a one-week suspension from all activities.

[54] By refusing to accept federal funds and Title IV financial aid (from the Higher Education Act of 1965), Grove City is not required to adhere to various federal guidelines that (i) prevent sex-based and many other forms of discrimination (e.g., Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972), (ii) regulate investigations into accusations of sexual abuse, (iii) require the collecting and sharing of information about crimes on campus (Clery Act), and (iv) set standards for disciplinary proceedings (Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act).

[55] Grove City College has always been officially non-denominational, but in its first decades had a de facto affiliation with the Presbyterian Church; today, it is no longer tied to a particular Christian denomination.

[58] The Grove City College Journal of Law & Public Policy was founded in 2009 and features writing about political theory, jurisprudence, and Austrian economics.

Other periodicals are The Bridge (the college yearbook), The Collegian (the campus newspaper), Cogitare (associated with ISI), and The Quad (a literary magazine).

On the varsity level, Grove City College has basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, cheerleading, swimming, tennis, and track teams for both men and women.

In 2018, the school's assistant sports information director was charged with nearly 100 counts for crimes ranging from privacy violations to possession of child pornography after it was discovered he had been secretly recording students who were showering in the college's locker room.