August 20, 2025
The goal of William R. Tolbert Baptist University is to bridge the gap between academic learning and needs of development on a national scale.
William R. Tolbert Baptist University (WRTBU) has opened its doors for the 2025-2026 academic year in Liberia, providing an opportunity for Africa to make its mark in the higher education space, according to Front Page Africa.
Classes will begin in October 2025 after being established in 2022. Consisting of three colleges — the College of Business Management and Professional Studies, the College of Agriculture and Forestry, and the College of Math, Science, and Technology — WRTBU aims to bridge the gap between academic learning and the needs of national development. With plans to add four more colleges in the future, Tolbert Baptist University offers programs designed to provide students with technical, practical, and character-driven education.
University officials say programs are designed to teach theoretical knowledge in addition to providing hands-on experience with skills that the country desperately needs. With lessons on how to create businesses, logistics, wholesale, and resource management, “Liberians will be trained to take over their economy,” the university said, with the goal of instilling a spirit of leadership in every graduate.
The institution hopes to cultivate leaders not only to advance in their careers but also to be open to building character and the necessary vision to grow the country. “Our objective is to develop sound leadership in our graduates and instill in them the importance of education as a foundation for self-development and national progress,” the WRTBU website reads.
It won’t be hard for WRTBU to reach its goal with some of the classes students are offered. With an emphasis on entrepreneurship, graduates of the College of Business Management and Professional Studies will earn degrees in Entrepreneurship, Port Management, International Relations, Farm Management, and Mining Management.
As artificial intelligence slowly takes over the world, the College of Math, Science, and Technology marks innovation as a priority. Students will be trained in Cybernetics, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computer Engineering, with a stringent curriculum emphasizing modern technological operations, coding, and basic IT skills. For the College of Agriculture and Forestry, “students will be trained to ensure that we eat what we grow and grow what we eat.” Programs will host courses in Agronomy, Animal Science, and Forestry, with the goal of reversing Liberia’s dependence on imported goods.
Students will be equipped with the skills to manage sustainable crop production, animal husbandry, and forest conservation.
The four-year institution is named after Liberia’s 20th president, William R. Tolbert, who was assassinated in 1980. His work as a public servant in Africa was established long before becoming president. He started as a clerk in the Bureau of Supplies at the Department of the Treasury and then served as a disbursing officer for the Payment of the Republic from 1936 to 1943, according to the Liberian Observer.
Between 1943 and 1951, he served as a member of the House of Representatives, followed by being elected as Vice President of the Republic of Liberia under then-President William V. S. Tubman in 1952.
RELATED CONTENT: College Students Need to Think Like Investors
