Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

The campus is located on 302 acres (122 ha) about 4 miles (6.5 km) from downtown Fort Worth. The university consists of nine constituent colleges and schools. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". According to the National Science Foundation, the university received approximately $19 million in research and development funding in 2022, ranking it 298th in the nation for research revenue and expenditures.

TCU's mascot is Superfrog, based on the Texas state reptile: the horned frog. For most varsity sports, TCU competes in the Big 12 conference of the NCAA's Division I. As of fall 2024, the university enrolled around 12,938 students, with 11,049 being undergraduates.

The East Texas brothers Addison and Randolph Clark, with the support of their father Joseph A. Clark, first founded Texas Christian University. The Clarks were scholar-preacher/teachers associated with the Restoration Movement. These early leaders of the Restoration Movement were the spiritual ancestors of the modern Disciples of Christ and the Churches of Christ, as well as being major proponents of education.

Upon their return from service in the Confederacy during the Civil War, brothers Addison and Randolph embarked on a mission to establish a children's preparatory school in Fort Worth. This educational institution, known as the Male & Female Seminary of Fort Worth, was in operation from 1869 to 1874. The Clarks shared a collective vision of creating a higher education institution that would embody Christian values while maintaining a non-sectarian and intellectually open-minded spirit. To realize this vision, they procured five city blocks in downtown Fort Worth in 1869.

But from 1867 to 1874, the character of Fort Worth changed substantially due to the commercial influence of the Chisholm Trail, the principal route for moving Texas cattle to the Kansas rail heads. An influx of cattle, men, and money transformed the sleepy frontier village. The area around the property purchased by the Clarks for their college soon housed stretch of saloons, gambling halls, dance parlors, and brothels. By 1872, it had acquired it the nickname of "Hell's Half Acre". The Clarks found an alternative site for their college at Thorp Spring, a small community 40 miles (60 km) in Hood County to the southwest near the frontier of Comanche and Kiowa territory.

In 1873 the Clark brothers moved South to Thorp Spring and founded Add-Ran Male & Female College. TCU recognizes 1873 as its founding year, as it continues to preserve the original college through the AddRan College of Liberal Arts.

Add-Ran College was one of the first coeducational institutions of higher education west of the Mississippi River. The college expanded quickly from its first enrollment in Fall 1873 of 13 students. Shortly thereafter, annual enrollment ranged from 200 to 400. At one time more than 100 counties of Texas were represented in the student body. The Clark brothers also recruited prestigious professors from all over the South to join them at Thorp Spring.