Louisiana Christian University

Louisiana Christian University (LCU) is a private Baptist university in Pineville, Louisiana. It enrolls 1,100 to 1,200 students. It is affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention).

Louisiana Christian University was founded in 1906 as Louisiana College. It took its current name on November 16, 2021. The school colors are orange and blue, and the athletic teams are known as the Louisiana Christian Wildcats and Lady Wildcats.

Louisiana Christian University was founded as Louisiana College on October 3, 1906, in Pineville, across the Red River from the larger city of Alexandria. The college began in tents with four professors and nineteen students.

Baptist clergyman and educator Edwin O. Ware, Sr., is considered to have been the principal founder of the institution. From 1906 to 1907, Ware was the college's financial agent and its first president from 1908 to 1909. LCU is the successor to two earlier Louisiana Baptist schools: Mount Lebanon College and Keatchie Female College. After a history beset with financial difficulties, both schools came under the control of the Louisiana Baptist Convention in 1899. The state convention selected an Education Commission to administer the schools, understanding that both would be succeeded by a more centrally located institution as soon as a suitable campus could be chosen. When Louisiana College was opened in 1906, Mount Lebanon College closed, followed by Keatchie a few years later. Since the first class of nineteen students in 1906, more than ten thousand students have graduated.

In 1920, the school completed Alexandria Hall. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Until 1921, Louisiana College was administered by the Education Commission. The new charter established a board of trustees. The first administrative head of Louisiana College was W. F. Taylor, whose title was faculty chair. Since its opening under President Edwin Ware, LC has had nine presidents:

In 2012, the Louisiana Baptist Convention approved Louisiana College to seek $12 million in donations from member churches within the state as part of the institution's $50 million capital improvements program. The $12 million had been intended to improve on-campus housing. Although the campaign has since been abandoned, many residence halls were renovated shortly after the inauguration of Rick Brewer as a part of his "Campus Beautification" campaign. LC ended its fiscal year on July 31, 2012, with a $1.3 million deficit; the institution spent $30.5 million during that time but collected only $29.2 million in revenues.

In 2013, LCU reported an enrollment growth of 50 percent relative to 2006.^{[clarification needed]}