Bridgewater College evolved from the former Spring Creek Normal School, which was founded in 1880 under the leadership of Daniel Flory. The school was originally located at Spring Creek, Virginia, but moved a few miles east to Bridgewater in 1882, just in time for the fall semester. It was incorporated by the State of Virginia in 1884, the name of the school was changed to Bridgewater College in 1889 after revising it's charter, and became an accredited four-year college by the Virginia State Board of Education in 1916. It is a co-educational institution with an enrollment near 1,000.

    Elizabethtown College officially opened for classes on November 13, 1900, at the corner of South Market and Bainbridge streets in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Elders of the German Baptist Brethren of Pennsylvania Eastern district were invited in 1898 to attend a meeting for the expressed purpose of founding an institution of higher education, and a committee subsequently recommended Elizabethtown as their choice location. The school was moved to the east side of town in January of the following year, and came under ownership of the Eastern Pennsylvania district of the Church of the Brethren in 1917. For the first two decades it also operated an academy for high-school students, and received full accreditation for issuing baccalaureate degrees from the State Council on Education in 1921. Several building and renovation initiatives during the 1950s 1960s greatly increased the size of the campus. This strengthened its academic program, which offers study in almost forty major pursuits. It is a co-educational institution with an enrollment near 1,500 (largest of the six colleges).

    Juniata College is the oldest of the six colleges that are affiliated with the Church of the Brethren. It was the venture of three central Pennsylvania men of the Brumbaugh family who advocated the establishment of an institution of higher educational for Brethren. It officially opened for classes on April 17, 1876 as the Huntingdon Normal School and then changed to Brethren's Normal College two years later, and finally to Juniata College in 1894 (from the nearby Juniata River). The school received full accreditation from the state of Pennsylvania in 1896. It is a co-educational institution with an enrollment near 1,300.

    University of La Verne was founded by members of the Church of the Brethren under the name of Lordsburg College in 1891. The Church of the Brethren Pacific Southwest District (California - Arizona) took over the administration of the school in 1908, and both the name of the town and the college were changed to La Verne in 1917. First known as La Verne College, accreditation was received by the California Board of Education in 1927, and administrative control was transferred in 1933 to an independent board of trustees. Following accreditation by the Western College Association in 1955, the school engaged in a vigorous program of innovation during the 1960s with new major program's of study being introduced, such as, the introduction of off-campus degree programs in 1969, addition of a law school in 1970, and the American Armenian International College in 1976, plus a name change in 1977 to the University of La Verne. It is a co-educational institution with an enrollment near 1,400.

    Manchester College was incorporated from the former Roanoke Classical Seminary founded in 1860 by members of the United Brethren Church in Roanoke, Indiana. It was moved to North Manchester, Indiana, in 1889, and acquired by the Church of the Brethren in 1902. It was first incorporated as the College and Bible School in 1895. Presently it is governed by a board of trustees, some of whose members are elected by various Church of the Brethren districts. Accreditation was received by the State of Indiana in 1932. Manchester was the first Brethren affiliated college to offer a Peace Studies program in 1948. It is a co-educational institution with an enrollment near 1,100.

    McPherson College was founded in August of 1887, and opened for classes the following year on September 5, 1888. It was the first of the Brethren affiliated colleges to include a biblical studies program as apart of its origination, and the first to request a direct relationship with the Church of the Brethren. McPherson has a strong agricultural department that was strengthened by the acquisition of a one hundred fifty acre farm in 1909. Accreditation was then received in 1921 from the North Central Association of Colleges. Presently, a board of trustees includes some Brethren from the surrounding church districts. Since it is the only Brethren affiliated institution in the mid-west, McPherson serves a wider geographic region than the other five colleges, with a prospective area of coverage from the Pacific coast to the Mississippi River, and from Canada to Mexico. It is a co-educational institution with an enrollment near 500.