The beginning of the Seventh-day Adventist education in this part of Africa dates back to the establishment of the Seventh - day Adventist Church in the region. In October 1978, the Afro-Mid-east Division of the Seventh-day Adventists took an action to establish such a University in Kenya on December 21, 1978. The Kenya government allocated the Baraton animal husbandry research station of 339 acres in Nandi district to the Seventh-day Adventist Church for founding what is known as the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. Classes officially began in January 1980, in temporary farm structures of which have been replaced with new and modern buildings.
The University is a full-accredited institution of higher learning by the Adventist Accrediting Association of the Seventh - day Adventist schools, colleges and universities, and was chartered by the government of the Republic of Kenya on March 28, 1991. It is also a member of the Commonwealth Association of Universities and the Inter-university Council for East Africa.
