The College was established as the Adelaide Bible Institute in 1924 and offered evening classes to train people for missionary service.

Growing numbers of students meant that, in 1962, the college relocated to Mount Breckan, which provided larger premises in Victor Harbor.

[5] In 1962, J. Graham Miller was unable to take up an offer to become principal as he was unwilling to sign the required statement of premillennial belief.

[6] Baptist minister Ted Gibson was principal from 1961 to 1964 before moving to Malyon College in Queensland.

[12] At the end of that decade, they established the South Australian Graduate School of Theology to teach masters and doctoral degrees in addition to undergraduate awards.