Hoyt Blackwell served as president from 1938 to 1966, and under his leadership Mars Hill became an accredited four-year college in 1962.

Under Lunsford, Mars Hill University constructed three new dormitories,[11] a new health sciences building to house its nursing program,[12] a new classroom building to house the business department (the most popular major on campus),[12] completely renovated and greatly expanded the math and sciences classroom building,[13] upgraded its athletic facilities, tripled its endowment, increased its student enrollment, and started a graduate school in education.

[15] In 2008, Mars Hill gained autonomy from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina when the state convention voted to eliminate the requirement that it have final approval over who could serve as trustees for the school; this ruling allows the university to choose non-Baptists as trustees.

[24] In 1932 Lamar Stringfield, a Mars Hill alumnus, formed the North Carolina Symphony, the first state-supported orchestra in the nation.

[25] The "Bailey Mountain Cloggers", the university's dance team, have won 23 national championships in clogging,[26] and they have performed all over the United States and internationally in Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, Ireland, Austria, France, Greece, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Named after an alumnus who served a record four terms as the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, the center is dedicated to preserving the heritage and culture of the people of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

"[29][30] In 2024, Mars Hill accepted 74.2% of undergraduate applicants, with admission standards considered moderately competitive, and with those enrolled having an average 3.5 high school GPA.

The university is surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains; from various points on campus it is possible to see Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.

Mars Hill's sports mascot is the mountain lion; the university's colors are royal blue and gold.