Mission:
To operate and maintain a private, church-affiliated college for the education of men and women that offers programs including professional studies, that are rooted in the liberal arts tradition and provided in an environment nurtured by Christian values To maintain and support academic excellence through higher learning and higher values in a community made up of persons dedicated to the practice and advancement of Biblically based Christian ideals and Christ centered living in all aspects of life To seek and require higher standards in providing relevant educational programs reflecting an emphasis on the personal growth of each student at places and times that enhance the possible.

History:
From its beginning, Mount Olive College has been sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists. The institution was chartered in 1951 and opened in 1952 at Cragmont Assembly, the Free Will Baptist summer retreat grounds near Black Mountain, under the direction of the Reverend Lloyd Vernon. The School was called Mount Allen Junior College, taking its name from the mountain near Cragmont.

In September 1953, the College was moved to Mount Olive, North Carolina, nearer the center of denominational strength in the eastern section of the state. Under the leadership of the Reverend David W. Hansley, Chairman of the Board of Directors, plans were made to develop a junior college offering programs in arts and sciences and in business. The Reverend W. Burkette Raper was elected president in the summer of 1954, and in September the College began its first collegiate year with an enrollment of twenty-two students.

In 1956 the name "Mount Allen Junior College" was changed to "Mount Olive Junior College." In that same year plans were launched for an enlarged campus which today consists of 138 acres. In September 1970, the College's name was officially changed to Mount Olive College. In 1977 the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists requested that the Board of Trustees of Mount Olive College work aggressively toward making the College a four-year institution.The 1979 Session of the Convention endorsed the projected timetable set by the College Board of Trustees to add the junior year in 1984 and the senior year in 1985. In 1986, the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools officially accredited Mount Olive College as a four-year institution to award associate and baccalaureate degrees.

In 1975 the College began an educational program in Goldsboro, NC, at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Since then other locations offering degree programs have opened in North Carolina: New Bern (1993), Wilmington (1995), Research Triangle Park (1997) and Washington (2005). In the fall of 1994, the transfer of all operations to the Mount Olive campus was completed, and the College's original downtown campus was sold. In January 1995, the Board of Trustees selected Dr. J. William Byrd as the third president of Mount Olive College. Dr. Byrd assumed the duties of office on January 31 and was inaugurated on September 30.In 2001, Mount Olive College celebrated its 50th anniversary.