The college was founded by
J. Frank Norris in 1939 as Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute. The university started with 16 students and held classes at the First Baptist Church of Fort Worth. The college's first graduates became pastors or missionaries through the World Fundamental Baptist Fellowship (as
World Baptist Fellowship was then known). In 1945, the university was renamed the Bible Baptist Seminary. Norris stepped down as the college's president, and
George Beauchamp Vick became the new president. Shortly thereafter, Norris worried that Vick had been given too much power, so Norris regained control over the school and removed Vick as president. By 1950, these pastors had established the
Baptist Bible Fellowship International and
Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, with George Vick as president. After Norris died in 1952, the college no longer met at his church, so moved to temporary facilities in downtown Fort Worth. Earl K. Oldham became the college's president in 1953. During Oldham's tenure, the college's name was changed to Arlington Baptist College, and it was moved to its present location in 1955. D.L. Moody (no relation to
the evangelist of the same name) served as president from 2009 to 2019. Appointed in 2020, Clifton McDaniel currently serves as the president of the school. In 2015, the college applied for an exception to
Title IX, allowing it to discriminate against LGBT students for religious reasons. Notwithstanding the request, the ABU Student Handbook (pp. 38-39) affirms the university's position that sexual activity is limited to heterosexual marriage only, and "[s]tudents participating in sexual misconduct [which it defines as all behavior outside of heterosexual marriage] will be subject to dismissal". ==Accreditation==