Wayland Baptist University

Founded in 1908 by a pioneer physician committed to the value of education, Wayland continues to pioneer new standards in higher learning, serving as a leader among the nation’s Christian colleges and universities.

Wayland Baptist University is dedicated to providing an innovative education informed by a Christian worldview. Our commitment to a transformative environment of faith and learning is affirmed in our University’s Mission and Core Values. These statements of purpose define us, and they shape the growth of every Wayland student.

Wayland Baptist University exists to educate students in an academically challenging, learning-focused and distinctively Christian environment for professional success and service to God and humankind. Wayland Baptist University will be an environmentally responsible, international multi-campus system offering innovative, academically challenging, and distinctively Christian undergraduate and graduate education through multiple delivery systems to military and civilian students around the world.

At Wayland, students engage in a wide range of hands-on learning opportunities. Whether it’s an internship, research, professional project, study or service abroad, or all of the above, experiential learning activities will help you build valuable knowledge and skills as well as your resume.

Wayland’s Honors program, offered only on the Plainview campus, represents the highest level of academic work available at the undergraduate level. To graduate from the Honors program, students will take a series of non-traditional, inter-disciplinary seminar classes, with a variety of topics. These honors courses add dimension to any bachelor’s degree, taking a general education experience and enriching it with a greater, broader understanding at the liberal-arts level. During the latter half of the program, students conduct research and write an original honors thesis, with the help and supervision of a faculty member, which they then defend before a panel prior to graduation.

Wayland offers and accepts many types of financial aid including the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Perkins Loans, Stafford Loans, Military Tuition Assistance, and V.A. Educational Benefits. To qualify for aid, students must be officially admitted into the university and, with limited exceptions, enrolled as a regular student in an eligible program in order to receive financial aid. A regular student is one who is enrolled in a degree-seeking program or a certificate program offered by the university. Eligibility for some financial aid is further dependent upon a student’s full-time enrollment.

Student Services offers a wide range of support programs to enrich your student experience and help you reach your full potential. At Wayland, we are committed to making our private Christian education affordable for students and families. To that end, our faithful, knowledgeable professionals in the Office of Financial Aid will work closely with you to explore every possible financial aid option. A life-changing Wayland education is within reach – let us show you how.

College life is full of exciting events and opportunities. Here, you’ll find a calendar filled with concerts, plays, movie nights, game nights, club events – plus campus favorites like Star-Stage and Mississippi Mud Mash! Good friends, good fun – this is what college should be! Koinonia, Wayland's new-student orientation, is the first event of the new school year full of fun and informational activities for students and parents.

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for students to further their education. Wayland Baptist University is fortunate to have a large number of endowed scholarships provided by donors, churches, alumni and organizations loyal to Wayland. With educational costs rising nationwide, many parents and prospective students believe private education is beyond reach. We strive to help our students receive the maximum aid available to them. We offer endowed scholarships based on a student’s major field of study, residency, academics, or other specified criteria. We match students with scholarships to help them attain their educational goals. Our main goal in offering financial aid for students is to help students attain their education goals, whatever they may be.

College tuition and fees quickly add up and unfortunately, sometimes scholarships and grants do not cover everything. Wayland Baptist University supports a few payment alternatives to help cover the cost of higher education with student loan programs.

At the turn of the 20th century, pioneer physician Dr. James Henry Wayland understood the importance of education and was driven to offer an education grounded in faith to the people of West Texas. In an agreement with the Staked Plains Baptist Association and the people of Plainview, Dr. and Mrs. Wayland donated $10,000 and 25 acres of prime real estate to establish the Wayland Literary and Technical Institute that was officially chartered in 1908.

The first classes were held in September of 1910 in Matador Hall with 241 students enrolled in what was now called Wayland Baptist College. In 1911, Elmer Childress was the first student to officially graduate. By 1914, Wayland had become one of the correlated schools affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Wayland continues to operate campuses and offer degrees in six states and the African nation of Kenya, as well as online, and in 2016, the university began its first doctoral program, the Doctor of Management Degree.