The University was founded as San Jose Bible College in 1939, in San Jose by William Jessup, the school's first President. Eugene Claremont Sanderson had originally started a school called Evangel Bible University in San Jose in 1934 but was unable to make it viable. As a result, he recruited William Jessup, one of his former students to take over. By 1951, with the school expanding and the San José State University across the street encroaching, San Jose Bible College moved to a parcel bordered by Coyote Creek, 12th Street and nearly 30 years later by I-280. Spanish-style classroom buildings and several dormitory buildings made up the small campus.