Cuttington University sits about 15 km east of Gbarnga along the road towards Salala, on a quiet campus surrounded by forest. Founded by the American Episcopal Church in 1889 in Cape Palmas and moved to its current site in 1949, it is the oldest privately operated, degree-granting four-year university in sub-Saharan Africa.
The campus itself is pleasant and walkable, with traditional brick buildings and well-kept grounds. The main attraction for visitors is the African Ethnographic Museum, which holds an impressive collection of masks, textiles and ceremonial objects from across Liberia's ethnic groups — Mano, Gio, Kpelle, Bassa, Vai and others. Opening hours are erratic but a phone call ahead usually gets the curator to open up. The Cuttington campus also briefly housed the Liberian National Symphony Orchestra during the civil war years.