In the fall of 1927, Reverend P.C. Nelson opened what is now Nelson University in a two-story brick schoolhouse in Enid, Oklahoma. In the 1930s, three Bible colleges joined together to form Southwestern Bible Institute. In 1943, the 70-acre former campus of Trinity University in Waxahachie, Texas, was purchased and the school found a permanent home. Ultimately, the university was known as Southwestern Bible College and then Southwestern Assemblies of God University. The university’s name was changed to Nelson University in 2024 to honor its founder.