Our History

Founded in 1960, Arizona Christian University is a regionally accredited, private, non-profit Christian liberal arts university in Glendale, Arizona.

​The university traces its roots to Miss Ida Clouse, a follower of Christ and trained nurse who left the Midwest at the turn of the last century and moved to Arizona Territory. Under the Homestead Act she opened the 160 acre Clouse Ranch where she cared for many, both physically and spiritually. Upon her death, Clouse left the Cactus Road property to an association of Baptist churches for God’s work, including being a Christian retreat center. Just over a decade later, Southwestern Conservative Baptist Bible College was established on part of the land. Later renamed Southwestern College, and then finally Arizona Christian University in 2011, the small Bible college founded in the desert has continued to grow into a vibrant Liberal Arts university.

In 1965, Dr. Wallace Woods, the first College President (1965-1975), wrote: “We want to be current in our thinking and up-to-date in our methods. We want to be relevant to the changing needs of people. Nevertheless, there are foundations upon which we stand as a Bible college, and we fix our anchor in the authority of the scriptures. By God’s grace we want to be flexible in the application of biblical principles to the training of students for effective service in their respective careers and yet hold steadfastly to the Statement of Faith which has characterized the College since its founding.”

Today, Arizona Christian University continues to hold fast to its foundations and remains committed to equipping students who are followers of Jesus Christ with a sound biblical foundation for their chosen vocation and field of influence.

In 1972 the college first received accreditation with the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) and added regional accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) in 1992. ACU’s desire to serve the broader evangelical community was reflected in the decision in 2007 to become a non-denominational Christian college.

With the leadership of President Len Munsil (2010-present), a constitutional attorney and leader in Christian non-profit and public policy work, ACU embraced a renewed vision to “transform culture with truth”. ACU’s mission is to prepare graduates to take the hope of Jesus Christ and the Gospel into all the world, and bring biblical truth into every arena of influence in our culture.

In November 2018, President Munsil announced a miracle. Arizona Christian University traded its valuable 20-acre campus location in north Phoenix to Arizona State University for the historic 68-acre campus that was formerly the home of ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale. Previous to the graduate school, this land was Thunderbird Field, a primary training school for pilots during World War II. Education is the theme for this campus location since 1941.

The Glendale campus offers extensive the classroom space, dorm rooms, parking, an enhanced student life experience with a historic Tower student union, the Commons dining hall, a state- of-the-art library, and an events center. In 2021, ACU grew by adding the Firestorm Recreation Center, which includes gym, classroom, fitness spaces and includes a pool that is the home for our competitive swim program. Athletic facilities continue to be built so future Firestorm athletes can practice and compete on-campus, including the recent completion of the new baseball and soccer fields. The campus now is a total of 75 acres.

The move to the new campus, which occurred during the summer of 2019 in time for classes in the fall of 2019, enables Arizona Christian University to continue to serve a growing student population without sacrificing its Christian identity, mission and purpose.