Lee University is a private, Christ-centered liberal arts university in Cleveland, Tennessee, historically affiliated with the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), an evangelical Christian denomination. Lee began as the Church of God Bible Training School in 1918, a small Bible institute of twelve students and one teacher. The school grew and became Lee College, with a Bible college and junior college on its current site, in 1948. Twenty years later, Lee received accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as a four-year liberal arts college. In 1997, Lee made the transition from college to comprehensive liberal arts university granting graduate degrees. The university is divided into five colleges and schools: the College of Arts & Sciences, the Helen DeVos College