Arlington Baptist College

Infobox_University
name =Arlington Baptist College


motto =Enriching the Mind, Inspiring the Heart
established =1939
type =Private, accredited
endowment =
staff =
faculty =13 full-time, 12 part-time
president =David Bryant
undergrad = 200 (approx.)
city =Arlington
state =Texas
country =United States
campus =Suburban
mascot =Patriots (does not participate in athletics)
affiliations =World Baptist Fellowship
website = [http://www.abconline.edu www.abconline.edu]

Arlington Baptist College is a private four year Bible college in Arlington, Texas. The current president is David Bryant. Enrollment is generally near 150 students.

History

Founded by the well-known Fundamentalist J. Frank Norris in 1939 as Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute, it changed its name to Bible Baptist Seminary in 1945 and adopted its present name in 1972. The school has been affiliated with the World Baptist Fellowship for its entire existence.

The school first held classes at Norris' First Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas until his death, then leased the facilities of the former Brantley Draughon Business College in Fort Worth. The lease on the temporary quarters was lost a year later. A search began for a more permanent home for the seminary when the Elmo White property, located on US Highway 80 (now State Highway 180) in Tarrant County, was purchased. Plans were being made to construct buildings on this site. In 1956 the former Top O' Hill Terrace property became available. This property was purchased and the seminary relocated; Arlington Baptist College has been on this site for 50 years.

Academics and athletics

The college is accredited by Association for Biblical Higher Education. It offers four year Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. While it was known as the Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute and (later) Bible Baptist Seminary, the school granted Master's and Doctoral degrees, but does not currently do so. However, ABC has announced plans to once again offer Master's degrees in 2009.

The ABC athletic program has been inactive for several years. The school has traditionally competed with the Patriot as their mascot.

Alumni

*John Birch, namesake for the ultra-conservative John Birch Society. One of the school's first graduates in 1940.
*Kirk Franklin, the Grammy-winning gospel singer attended ABC for one semester, playing on the basketball team during his time at the school.

Campus

The Arlington campus is notable as being the site of a former casino which attracted the likes of Joe Louis, Humphrey Bogart, and Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Because of its notoriety the campus was declared a Texas state historic site on May 17 2004.

Links

* [http://www.abconline.edu/index.html Arlington Baptist College homepage]