Dallas Baptist University (formerly known as Decatur Baptist College and Dallas Baptist College) opened in
Decatur, Texas in 1898. The school moved to Dallas in 1965 at the invitation of the Dallas Baptist Association. It was destroyed in a fire on March 18, 2023, after years of service as the
Wise County Heritage Museum. In October 1965, Dallas Baptist College began offering classes to its first class of over 900 students. The initial piece of land for the campus, overlooking
Mountain Creek Lake in the hill country of southwest Dallas, was donated by
John Stemmons, Roland Pelt, and associates. In 2018, an additional land acquisition increased the total campus size to . In 1968, the college moved from
junior college to
senior college status, subsequently offering its first four-year
bachelor's degrees in May 1970. In 1985, the college officially changed its name to Dallas Baptist University.
Growth and expansion In 2019, the university enrolled 4,487 students. The university offers 84 undergraduate majors, 24
master's degree programs, over 45 dual master's programs, and 2
doctoral programs. While in its early years, the school had the reputation of being a
commuter college, today's DBU has well over 2,000 students living on campus. In 1992, the John G. Mahler Student Center, the first new building on the DBU campus in more than 20 years was dedicated. The building is a close replica of
Independence Hall in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it was the first of many new buildings in the
Georgian architectural style on the campus. In 2009, the Patty and
Bo Pilgrim Chapel was dedicated. The structure is used for various events such as chapel services and concerts, and houses office space for the Graduate School of Ministry along with classrooms and a large multipurpose room. The inspiration for the exterior of the building came from the
First Baptist Church in America, located in
Providence, Rhode Island. In the fall of 2011, the university opened the Joan and Andy Horner Hall. Named after the founders of Premier Designs, Horner Hall houses the DBU communication department, the offices for the College of Fine Arts, a multipurpose classroom and video recording studio, a design lab, and a music business recording studio, designed by the Russ Berger Design Group. The exterior of the structure is modeled after
Congress Hall located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2001, DBU-North opened in
Carrollton, Texas as DBU's first regional academic center, serving North Dallas and
Collin County. For several years, DBU-North was located in
Frisco, Texas, and in 2011, moved to Plano, Texas. DBU also opened DBU-Hurst-Colleyville in Hurst in the summer of 2005. In 2015, Jim and Sally Nation Hall opened its doors. A near replica of
Monticello, the building is the home of the Gary Cook School of Leadership, as well as other administrative offices. The building also houses several classrooms as well as a special event space situated in the dome of the building. Further locations for special programs and opportunities include the Department of Military Science at
University of Texas at Arlington (Army ROTC), Aerospace Studies at
Texas Christian University (Air Force ROTC), and the
Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics in Dallas, Texas. ==Academics==