In 1973, Baptist Christian University was founded by Jimmy G. Tharpe (1930–2008) as part of the Baptist Tabernacle, offering distance education for full-time ministers to complete degrees without leaving their pastorates.

[2] In February 1993, the trustees restructured the school's charter and changed the name to Louisiana Baptist University.

[3] In its beginning, LBU was housed in the Centrum Building on Hollywood Avenue.

It later relocated to a 12,500-square-foot (1,160 m2) facility off Interstate 20 at 6301 Westport Avenue in the center of West Shreveport, where the campus remains today.

[4] In May 2013, the university expanded their campus with the completion of the Neal Weaver Conference Center.