Howard Payne University is a four-year, private university located in Brownwood, in the U.S. state of Texas. Currently the university enrolls 1,400 full-time students. Howard Payne is known for the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom, its Music program and its Christian Studies program. The university is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. HPU founders named the college after Edward Howard Payne, a Missouri resident. Payne, brother in law to John David Robnett, the college's founder, gave the lead monetary gift to start the university.