- Liberty University, the state’s largest private university, brings Lynchburg national attention with the sometimes controversial Jerry Falwell at its helm. Liberty is the largest accredited Christian evangelical institution of higher learning in the country.

- Lynchburg College, an independent college founded in 1903, was ranked in the top tier of comprehensive Southern colleges for the second consecutive year by U.S. News and World Report in its 1998 issue of America’s Best Colleges.