Moravian traces its origin to a girls' school founded in May 1742 by sixteen-year-old Countess Benigna von Zinzendorf. The young countess, on an eighteen-month visit to the Moravian settlements in the New World with her father, Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf, was following a Moravian tradition that was already old in her time.

The roots of the Moravian denomination go back to the Bohemian Protestant martyr John Hus, who died at the stake in 1415. In 1457 the denomination was formally organized under the name Unitas Fratrum, "the Unity of the Brethren." The Brethren (later called the Moravians in the New World) gave to the world the pioneer educator John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), who was one of their bishops.

Called "the father of modern education" for his revolutionary educational principles, Comenius was a man of his time in thinking of education in religious terms. He viewed education as an instrument of salvation (because the soul had to be trained to search for truth and to recognize it when it was found). Since the Moravians considered every human soul a potential candidate for salvation, every human being had to be educated. Comenius wrote in 1632 that "not the children of the rich or of the powerful only, but of all alike, boys and girls, both noble and ignoble, rich and poor, in all cities and towns, villages and hamlets, should be sent to school." The Moravians therefore considered schools secondary in importance only to churches.

Following a period of intense persecution, during which the struggling church was threatened with extinction, the Brethren in 1722 were given asylum on the Saxony estate of an ecumenical-minded Lutheran nobleman, Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf, who became their leader as well as their benefactor. In 1732 settlers from Germany and Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic) came to the New World. On Christmas Eve 1741 they founded the community of Bethlehem in what was then wilderness, sixty miles north of Philadelphia. Count Nicholas and his daughter were there for the occasion.

Benigna von Zinzendorf's school was the first girls' boarding school in America. It gained such a distinguished reputation that George Washington, during his second term as president of the United States, personally petitioned the headmaster for the admission of two of his great-nieces. The Bethlehem Female Seminary, as the school became known, was chartered to grant baccalaureate degrees in 1863, and in 1913 became Moravian Seminary and College for Women.

A boys' school was established in Bethlehem in July 1742, and another in nearby Nazareth in 1743. These schools merged in 1759 to form Nazareth Hall, an institution which survived until 1929. In 1807 a men's college and theological seminary was established as an extension of Nazareth Hall. That institution, Moravian College and Theological Seminary, moved to Bethlehem in 1858 and was chartered to grant baccalaureate degrees in 1863, the same year as the women's college.

In 1954, after two centuries of separate development and growth, the women's and the men's institutions were combined to form a single coeducational college. Moravian Theological Seminary maintained a closely related but academically distinct identity as a graduate school of theology. As a result of the merger, Moravian College became the Lehigh Valley's first coeducational institution of higher education.

APPLYING TO MORAVIAN COLLEGE

Students interested in Moravian College should submit an application for admission during the fall or winter of their senior year in high school. Although an interview is not required, candidates should make every effort to visit the Moravian campus to discuss their enrollment plans with an admissions counselor. Such visits, including the interview, typically take place after April 1 of the student’s junior year and before February 15 of their senior year.

Since an audition is required for admission to the music major, students who are planning to major in music at Moravian should arrange an audition with the Music Department directly by calling 610-861-1650. (Music Student Requirements)

Prospective art majors are required to submit a portfolio of their work along with their application for admission. (Portfolio Requirements)

Moravian College is a member of the Common Application group. Students may apply to Moravian by submitting the Common Application or by submitting the Moravian College Online Application.

Applying to a Graduate degree or certificate program? 

Students graduating high school in 2018 are welcome to apply for admission as early as the beginning of their senior year.

REQUIREMENTS

Enrollment Checklist

• Completed application form
• High School Transcript
• SAT/ACT is required for admission
• Recommendations 
  - One from school counselor, principal, or other school official
  OR
  - One from an 11th- or 12th-grade teacher
• Essay

Standards for Admission

Candidates for admission should be enrolled in a high school college-preparatory curriculum and should complete the following courses by the time they graduate:

• four years of English
• three years of mathematics (four years for students planning to major in the natural sciences or in economics and business)
• four years of social science
• two years of the same foreign language
• three years of natural sciences (at least two of which must include a laboratory experience)
• electives chosen to prepare for successful study in a liberal arts program

Admission to the Nursing Program 

Early Decision 1 Deadline: November 15th
Early Decision 2 Deadline: January 15th

Only applications complete by the deadline will be considered for admission.

A complete application includes:

• Official High School Transcript
• Official SAT or ACT Score
• Writing Sample
• Letter of recommendation

Requirements for admission:

• Mandatory interview with admission counselor
• 3.4 HS GPA
• 2016 or 2017 SAT of 540 Math and 560 Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
  OR
  ACT score of 24 or above
•