“C” is for Columbia International University

“C” is for Columbia International University. Founded as the Southern Bible Institute in 1921, the school's name was changed in 1923 to the Columbia Bible College. By the 1930s it was offering not only a four year baccalaureate degree but also had a graduate program. Additional professional programs were established in the affiliated Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Missions. The major focus was to train persons to be pastors, missionaries, youth and children's workers, Bible teachers, and Christian education directors. In 1960 the entire operation moved from downtown Columbia to a four hundred-acre suburban campus. Renamed Columbia International University in 1994, the institution retains its fundamentalist orientation, still requiring all of its more than 3,200 students to have a major in Bible studies even if enrolled in one of its professional degree programs.