Decatur Baptist
College, established in 1898 and the forerunner of Dallas
Baptist University, had the distinction of being the first
two-year institution of higher education in Texas. The Baptist
General Convention of Texas purchased land in 1897 from Northwest
Texas Baptist College. The school enjoyed a rich, full history
in Decatur until 1965 when it moved to Dallas, at the invitation
of the Dallas Baptist Association.
Dallas
Baptist University was established in Dallas in 1965 as Dallas
Baptist College. The initial 100 acres of land for the campus,
overlooking Mountain Creek Lake in the hill country of southwest
Dallas, were donated by John Stemmons, Roland Pelt, and associates.
An interested group of businessmen donated the additional
100 acres, and in 1994 a donation by the Louis Hexter family
added another 88 acres. More recent additions have increased
the current size of the DBU campus to 292 acres.
Beginning with the fall semester
of 1968, the college moved from junior college to senior college
status. The junior year of academic work was added that year,
the senior year in June of 1969. The first bachelor's degrees
were awarded in May 1970.
In 1985, the college name officially
became Dallas Baptist University and significant changes were
made. The new structure consisted of the College of Arts and
Sciences, the Mary C. Crowley College of Christian Faith,
the Dorothy M. Bush College of Education, and the College
of Business. In 1988, the College of Adult Education was added,
and in 1989 and 1990 three new colleges were added by dividing
the College of Arts and Sciences: the College of Fine Arts,
the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College
of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Master's programs were later added in Christian education, Christian education in student and childhood ministry, counseling, education, global leadership, higher education, liberal arts, organizational management, professional development, school counseling, teaching, and worship leadership, for a total of 14 master's programs. In December 2004, Dallas Baptist University was advanced from Level III to a Level V institution by the Commission on Colleges and authorized to begin the Ph.D. in Leadership Studies and Ed.D. in Educational Leadership.
The fall semester of 2006 saw the enrollment of the University reach a record 5,153 students, including 1,456 master's students and 87 doctoral students.
Indeed the future is bright at Dallas Baptist University where
a commitment to providing quality, Christian higher education
through the integration of faith and learning gives direction
and purpose to the entire educational enterprise.
