Muhlenberg College, established in 1848, is the city's oldest institute of higher learning. The bulk of the campus is located in Allentown's west side, just across from Cedar Creek Park. The four-year, private liberal arts college was founded by the American patriarch of the Lutheran church, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, which explains the various religious studies and vocational majors offered. Overall, the education at Muhlenberg is broad, covering the fields of history, science and language, among others. The Muhlenberg Mules participate in about a dozen Division III men's and women's sports, including basketball, tennis, volleyball and baseball.
Cedar Crest College, Allentown's other four-year college, is also located on the west side of the city, across Cedar Creek Park from Muhlenberg. Unlike Muhlenberg, however, Cedar Crest is a women's only institution and its religious affiliation is with the United Church of Christ. While the college's academia revolves around a general liberal arts curriculum with programs in the humanities, arts and business, there is also a strong focus on biological sciences. The latter includes majors in the not as commonly offered fields of genetic engineering, neuroscience and nuclear medicine. The graduate program at Cedar Crest covers educational studies as well as nursing and forensic science. The athletics department features Cedar Crest Falcons teams in several Division III women's sports.
Lehigh Carbon Community College, founded in 1966, has several campuses within the Allentown area. Although the main campus can be found in Schnecksville, the Donley Center campus is in downtown Allentown. The college is the largest in the area, with more than 7,000 students, including those attending part time. The institution offers everything from certificate to full bachelor's degrees in a number of departments, including technology, humanities, health care and business. The idea behind the community college is to develop skills that put graduates in an immediate position to join the workforce, often within the Allentown area.
The Pennsylvania School of Business, similar to Lehigh Carbon Community College, provides students with job training, specifically within the worlds of business, technology and medicine. The degrees offered are limited to PC administration, networking technology and business administration, however. Each program takes a year and a half or two years to complete, depending on whether the student enrolls in the day school or the night school. The school also features a Career Services department that assists recent and upcoming graduates in the search for a job where they can apply their newly developed skills.