[4] While affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the college offers a secular curriculum and has a student body composed of people from many different religious backgrounds.

[5] Hendrix College was founded as a primary school called Central Institute in 1876 at Altus, Arkansas, by Rev.

[10] In 1890, after receiving bids from seven other Arkansas towns, the Hendrix Board of Trustees chose Conway as the new location for the college.

[10] The newly expanded college planned to move to Little Rock, Arkansas, but the city of Conway was able to raise $150,000 to keep the school.

[13] The financially troubled Galloway Woman's College in Searcy, Arkansas was absorbed by Hendrix in 1933 during the Great Depression.

[34] Hendrix College teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III.

[citation needed] In fall 2013, Hendrix was recognized as one of the country's top "Up and Coming" liberal arts colleges for the sixth consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report.

Hendrix was listed among the top liberal arts colleges "based on their contribution to the public good" by Washington Monthly.

[41] Hendrix is among the country's top 100 most financially fit private colleges, according to a list published by Forbes magazine[42] and is ranked No.

Hendrix was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 based on academic ratings, price category, and quality of student life on campus.

Since the mid-1990s, the college has pursued a master plan for campus construction, developed in consultation with the architectural design firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co.