Founded as a teacher's college to accommodate young women who lacked funding for higher education, Midway College was the brainchild of Dr. Lewis Letig Pinkerton, a medical doctor as well as a minister in the Christian Church. With the assistance and fundraising efforts of church elder James Ware Parrish, Dr. Pinkerton's vision, of providing a school for orphan girls who had few opportunities to be educated, came to fruition. The facility opened as the Kentucky Female Orphan School in 1847. (Midway College remains affiliated with the Disciples of Christ Christian Church and the oldest building on campus -- named for Dr. Pinkerton -- Pinkerton Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.)
Although Midway College accepts women only in the day programs on campus, the school provides access to college classes for both men and women through evening, weekend and online programs. Designed for working people, who may be older than the traditional college student, Midway offers these extended programs to provide adults with an opportunity to further their education at the home campus and at Midway's extended campus facilities in Lexington and Radcliffe. The college plans to open a School of Pharmacy in Paintsville in August 2011.
In addition to providing a quality liberal arts education and awarding associate, baccalaureate and master's degrees, in December 2010, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges granted Midway College the accreditation needed to offer doctoral degrees in pharmacy. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) must also approve Midway's accreditation, but has not done so yet as of this writing in February 2011.
Noted degree programs at Midway College include those in the fields of nursing, teacher education (offered online), equine management, and recently, business. (The first students with Master's of Business Administration degrees in Midway College's history graduated in May 2010.) The college's equine programs boast nationally ranked equine teams and offer access to several top-rate facilities, including Midway's Equine Education Center, the Keeneland Equine Education Center, and the Ashland Stables and Theurkauf Outdoor Riding Arena.