Université Crandall

Following the second World War, the leadership of the United Baptist Convention of the Maritime Provinces felt the time was right to address their concern that young people who were leaving the region to train for vocational Christian ministry were not returning. To address this issue, the United Baptist Bible Training School was founded in Moncton, New Brunswick in 1949. The school began as a Bible institute and then a few years later added a residential high school program because many prospective students who wanted to attend were from rural areas where young people did not have access to a high school education. For the next two decades, students came from all over Atlantic Canada and beyond to learn in a Christian context and to live in a Christian community. Academic excellence very quickly became a hallmark of the new school, and many people gave sacrificially to help expand the facilities and the programs. By 1968, high schools were being established across rural Atlantic Canada and the school transitioned to a Christian Junior Liberal Arts College to meet the educational needs of a new era. In 1970, the name was changed to Atlantic Baptist College to reflect this new direction.

In 1983, the New Brunswick Legislature passed legislation granting Atlantic Baptist College a charter and gave the College the authority to offer baccalaureate degrees. By 1996, the growing College moved from its original Salisbury Road campus to a new 200-acre campus on the Gorge Road on land donated by Mrs. Ruth Colburne. In the same year, the original Act of the Legislature was amended to change the name of the College to Atlantic Baptist University. This was done to reflect the continued growth and development of the University which by then was granting undergraduate degrees in Arts, Business, and Science and in the following years added bachelor degrees in Education and Organizational Management.

In 2008, and again in 2010, slight amendments to the Act were made to permit the awarding of degrees beyond the baccalaureate level and to change the name to Crandall University in honour of Joseph Crandall, who founded several Baptist churches in the greater Moncton area during the mid 1800s. This new name was also intended to more clearly offer an invitation into the Crandall community to all prospective students and supporters who were not from a Baptist tradition. In 2010, the University opened the new Stultz Hall academic building, and in 2012 the new Mitton Court apartment building, to augment the existing Colburne House residence and Murray Hall in order to accommodate the continued growth of the student body.

In 2013, the University began to offer graduate degrees in Organizational Management and Education. By 2020, a Master of Management degree was added. Through these developments the University witnessed a significant increase in enrollment from both domestic and international graduate students. Along with the growth in the student body, the size of the staff continued to increase as did the size and breadth of the faculty. At the same time, the University has maintained small class sizes to preserve the individual attention and friendly and supportive spirit which it has always valued. As the University entered the 2020s, over 300 undergraduate scholarships were added and the number of athletic teams increased as Crandall students travelled to compete in the region, the nation, and internationally.