History of Yellowstone Baptist College

Yellowstone Baptist College (YBC) is an exciting place with a bright and promising future. Located in Billings, Montana, in the middle of the Big Sky Country about 100 miles northeast of Yellowstone National Park, the school is the newest college in the Southern Baptist family. YBC is the only Southern Baptist college in the Northwest.

The school was started in 1974 by the Yellowstone Southern Baptist Association. In 1979 the Montana Southern Baptist Convention co-sponsored the school as a Bible Institute. In 1980 a junior college program was added. This same year generous gifts made possible the purchase of a ten acre campus with four existing buildings. In 1984 the Board of Directors added a four-year Bible college curriculum. During the 1986-87 school year the Bible Institute was discontinued. The Montana Southern Baptist Convention voted in February 1988 to support the College.

The 1987-88 school year saw the opening of the newly renovated cafeteria in Steinkuehler Hall. In the summer of 1989 YBC was approved by the Department of Immigration and Naturalization to accept non-immigrant foreign students.

In the spring of 1998, YBC and the Montana Southern Baptist Convention renewed their relationship by establishing a Covenant of Sacred Trust which mutually assures that YBC may continue to be “an educational and ministry resource for Montana Southern Baptists.”

In the summer of 1998, additional construction was completed, providing a newly renovated library and additional classroom facilities. In 2002 a generous gift made possible the construction of a chapel/music building. This new building houses the chapel as well as a prayer room, offices for the music faculty, a practice room, choir room, classroom, and the music library to which new selections are added continually. In addition, there is a kitchen to serve the reception area.

Throughout its life the College has maintained the highest academic standards possible. Today, both traditional and non-traditional students can engage in serious study of the Bible and related Christian subjects. Our Lord has graciously placed us in a strategic location at an opportune time.