Nyack College, first known as the Missionary Training Institute, was founded in 1882 in New York City by Dr. A.B. Simpson, who resigned a prestigious New York City pastorate to develop an interdenominational fellowship devoted to serving unreached people. Simpson’s view was shared by many of his contemporaries, including mainline church leaders, laborers, and theological scholars. The Missionary Training Institute was later granted a charter by the New York Board of Regents and the school's curriculum was registered by the State Education Department in 1944. In 1953, the school was authorized to confer the Bachelor of Science degree and, in 1961, the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1960, the corporation was authorized to conduct a post-baccalaureate program as the forerunner of the Alliance Theological Seminary. Nyack first received school accreditation in 1962 from Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.