The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference in NCAA Division I. Baylor University's athletic teams, known as the Bears, participate in 19 intercollegiate sports.
The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. It is classified among 'R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity'. Īs of fall, 2021, Baylor had a total enrollment of 20,626 (undergraduate 15,191, graduate 5,435). Located on the banks of the Brazos River next to I-35, between the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex and Austin, the university's 1,000-acre (400-hectare) campus is the largest Baptist university in the world. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the first educational institutions west of the Mississippi River in the United States. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas.
