a private, Christian college in Montreat, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1916, the college offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degree programs for traditional and adult students. The college's main campus for four-year traditional students is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina.
== History ==
In 1897 Congregationalist minister John C. Collins, from New Haven, Connecticut, joined with a number of like-minded associates from other denominations, including evangelist Weston R. Gales, to form the Mountain Retreat Association. "The corporation was not owned by one denomination but it was interdenominational in its makeup without church connection or control. The original Montreat idea has changed, grown and developed into what now is. Its name was derived from the words 'Mountain Retreat.'"
The original organization stated its purpose as follows: to establish and maintain in the mountain section of North Carolina, a municipality containing …