Founded in 1845, Baylor University is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas. It offers a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship.
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.
| Acronym | BU |
| Nickname | Bears |
| Motto / Slogan | Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo |
| Colour | Green and Gold |
| Mascot | Bear |
| Founded | 1845 |
| Location | Waco, Texas, United States |
| Address | Baylor University, 1311 S 5th St, Waco, Texas 76706, United States |
Founded in 1845, Baylor University is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas. It offers a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship.
To be a transformative presence in all our students’ lives, equipping them to flourish in a global society for the common good.
Toward advancing the mission of the University, they seek to enrich the Baylor experience through life-changing programs and services resulting in an integrated education known for virtuous leadership and service, Christian faith and community, and the holistic development of students.
Baylor delivers an amazing return for your investment. We offer the benefits and resources of a large research university, with the family atmosphere of a small school. Our campus is a nurturing environment with small class sizes, where faculty members know each student personally and care about your success.
When investing in your education, it’s important to look beyond the cost of tuition posted on a website. At Baylor University, the cost of tuition – which also includes mandatory fees, which can double the cost at many schools – rarely reflects the amount students pay to attend. In fact, 90% of Baylor undergraduate students receive some form of financial aid and do not pay the full sticker price.
Each Baylor student can engage in at least two high-impact practices (HIPs), such as undergraduate research, studying abroad, or first-year seminars. Students who participate in HIPs often earn higher grades, achieve personal goals, build strong faculty relationships, gain essential skills, and develop new ways of thinking. These evidence-based experiences also increase their chances of success beyond college.
Discover Baylor's educational value, where enriching opportunities are seamlessly integrated into your academic journey. These offerings empower your learning, foster meaningful connections, develop vital skills and ignite creativity. Explore the information below to discover the resources and advantages that accompany your Baylor experience, setting you on the path to success!
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Phone : (254) 710-3435, 254-710-3588, 800-229-5678
Enhancing the University’s academic enterprise while strengthening its Christian mission has been a key priority for Dr. Livingstone. As a result of her dynamic and collaborative leadership, Baylor was designated a Research 1 university in December 2021. Baylor is one of only a few R1 institutions with an explicit, primary identity as a Christian university.
Since Dr. Livingstone’s arrival, the University expanded its motto by adding Pro Mundo (For the World) to Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana (For the Church, For Texas). The change reflects a reinvigorated and explicit emphasis on Baylor’s global impact. Through the generosity of the Baylor Family, Baylor has added more than 45 new endowed chairs to the faculty. The University has also renovated historic academic buildings and residence halls and built new facilities — including the Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion and the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center — that have provided warm and inviting spaces for people to gather and deepen their connections to the University.
Joining Baylor in 2019, Dr. Brickhouse has established over thirty (and counting!) endowed chairs and professorships with philanthropic dollars. During this time, total research expenditures have grown by over 300%, and research doctorates have grown by 84%. This growth has led to Baylor receiving the highest Carnegie designation for research.
In addition to expanding the research at Baylor, Dr. Brickhouse has tripled the number of students in professional graduate programs. Her commitment to transformative undergraduate education is illustrated by her leadership in Baylor’s first strategic enrollment management (SEM) plan, which has already seen improved outcomes for students in terms of retention and timely graduation. Dr. Brickhouse is a tenured professor of education and a nationally recognized scholar.
Ms. Orr came to Baylor with extensive experience in higher education and municipal law. From 2010 to 2017, she served as senior associate general counsel to the board for the University of Texas System, working with the board of regents on legal, informational, and policy matters. Prior to her work with the UT System, she was an assistant city attorney for the cities of Austin and Houston and also has experience in private practice.
By the time Baylor was chartered, chattel slavery had become woven into the cultural and economic fabric of the Republic of Texas. All three of Baylor’s primary founders were slaveholders, as well as 11 of Baylor’s first 15 members of the Board of Trustees. In the 1850 federal census of Washington County, where Baylor University was located at the time, 47 percent of the total population were enslaved people. Located in the Brazos River Valley between Houston and Austin, Washington County’s loamy soil was well suited to cotton cultivation, for which enslaved people provided much of the labor. At the onset of the American Civil War, the county had become the second most populous county in Texas and one of the leading cotton-producing counties in the state. Given the era of the University’s founding and initial decades of operation, the agricultural economy of the region surrounding Independence, and the importance of the financial support that slaveholding founders and early trustees provided the University, it is understood that the labor of enslaved people, both directly and indirectly, played a significant role in Baylor University’s history from the very beginning of the institution’s existence and throughout the University’s growth during its early years in Independence. The identities of these enslaved persons are unknown, but the University acknowledges their place in the Baylor story and humbly recognizes their contributions to the foundation upon which the University was built.
In 1886, Baylor and Waco University consolidated to form Baylor University at Waco.
From humble beginnings in Independence, Texas, the campus has grown to approximately 1,000 acres in Waco, Texas, annually educating more than 19,000 men and women to pursue their individual life callings.
These are exciting times in the life of the University - a period in which our institution is striving to remain both a relevant institution of higher learning for the coming years and to continue to fulfill our original mission to be a Christian University "fully susceptible of enlargement and development to meet the needs of all ages to come." In a world where faith is often the casualty of a serious pursuit of academic achievement, Baylor is a special place.
The ability and willingness of Baylor to adapt and change to achieve continual progress can be traced throughout its history. It has endured and survived hardships, from financial difficulties, to the Great Depression, to world wars. It made a historic and critical decision to move from Independence to Waco, its current home. It divested its medical and dental schools at a time when that proved to be the most prudent decision for the success of each program. It even had the foresight and fortitude to change its very charter to insulate the institution from denominational struggles. In 2020, as part of its acknowledgment of the University’s history regarding slavery and racial injustice, the University again embraced the opportunity to strengthen its commitment to ensuring that Baylor University is a place that values equity, condemns injustice and offers a welcoming environment for all students.
Had Baylor and its leaders throughout history not faced these decisions and challenges with foresight and a commitment to progress, it would not be the leading university that it is today. The University's Illuminate strategic plan will continue to help Baylor adapt and grow with the world around it, while ever strengthening its original mission and heritage.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education recognizes Baylor University as a "Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity" or "Research 1" institution, joining the nation’s top-tier research institutions as a doctoral university with very high research activity and elevating Baylor as a preeminent Christian research university.
Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked liberal arts institution. Our rank of alumni include missionaries and pastors, heads of Fortune 500 companies, governors of Texas and professional athletes. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in the state.