Elizabethtown College is an independent men and women's residential college of 1,790 full-time students located in Pennsylvania's historic Lancaster County, near the state capital of Harrisburg and the world-famous chocolate-making town of Hershey. The College, founded in 1899, has been ranked for 10 straight years as one of the best regional liberal arts colleges in the United States by the influential U.S. News & World Report 'Best Colleges' survey and as one of the "best values" in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

Elizabethtown College is a community of learners committed to independent thought and personal integrity as the foundations of a life of learning. Our mission is to nurture sound intellectual judgment, keen moral sensitivity, and an appreciation for beauty in the world. High standards of leadership and scholarship are the foundations of our distinctive blend of the liberal arts and professional studies. In keeping with the heritage of the Church of the Brethren, the college affirms the values of peace, non-violence, human dignity, and social justice, and seeks to make those values manifest in the global community. "Educate for Service" expresses our belief that the pursuit of knowledge is most noble when used to benefit others.

Founded in 1899, Elizabethtown College is a 'centennial college', one of dozens of institutions of higher learning founded in the 19th century by churches or church members interested in the educational advancement of their denominational membership.