Ambassador College was a four-year, liberal arts

Liberal arts

The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

 college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 run by the Worldwide Church of God. The college was established in 1947 in Pasadena

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 by radio evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong

Herbert W. Armstrong

Herbert W. Armstrong founded the Worldwide Church of God in the late 1930s, as well as Ambassador College in 1946, and was an early pioneer of radio and tele-evangelism, originally taking to the airwaves in the 1930s from Eugene, Oregon...

, leader of what was then the Radio Church of God, later renamed the Worldwide Church of God

Worldwide Church of God

Grace Communion International , formerly the Worldwide Church of God , is an evangelical Christian denomination based in Glendora, California, United States. Since April 3, 2009, it has used the new name Grace Communion International in the US...

. The college was approved by the State of California to grant degree

Academic degree

An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...

s, but was only regionally accredited at the time.

In 1960 a second campus was opened at Bricket Wood

Bricket Wood

Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire, England, approximately 4½ miles from St Albans. It is part of the parish of St Stephen. Its railway station is served by a London Midland service that runs between St Albans Abbey and Watford Junction stations.Close to the village stands...

, Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and in 1964 a third campus was opened in Big Sandy

Big Sandy, Texas

Big Sandy is a town in Upshur County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town's population was 1,288. A lake of the same name is cut nearly in half by U.S. Highway 80, the main thoroughfare of Big Sandy....

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.