The Facts
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Web site: www.lasierra.edu
Location: Riverside, California
Environment: suburban community near mountains, desert, and beach about 70 minutes from Los Angeles
Undergraduate enrollment: 1,217 59 percent female, 41 percent male
Annual cost for tuition, room, board, fees: $22,792 (add about $800 for books and supplies)
School year: three quarters, late September to early June
Call for more information: 1-800-874-5587
E-mail: info@lasierra.edu
Nearest Taco Bell: 1.2 miles
Number of bird species found on La Sierra's campus: more than 200
Number of days of sunshine annually: 340
Get out of your chair right now and look out the window. Unless, of course, you're reading this in church or chemistry class, in which case I guess you'd better wait.
Take a look at the sky. What do you see?
Angry gray clouds? Cancel your picnic plans and don't bother to wash your car today.
Swirling white pellets? You must be in North Dakota or Siberia. Keep your ears warm and wear lots of socks.
Blue sky and bright sun? Maybe you're at La Sierra University. Grab your shades, pack some sunscreen, and come for a tour.
College Guide
Compare & Constrast
La Sierra University
Get out of your chair right now and look out the window. Unless, of course, you're reading this in church or chemistry class, in which case I guess you'd better wait.
Take a look at the sky. What do you see?
Angry gray clouds? Cancel your picnic plans and don't bother to wash your car today.
Swirling white pellets? You must be in North Dakota or Siberia. Keep your ears warm and wear lots of socks.
Blue sky and bright sun? Maybe you're at La Sierra University. Grab your shades, pack some sunscreen, and come for a tour.
The students on La Sierra's southern California campus enjoy an average of 340 days of sunshine each year. You hardly even need your umbrella except for about two weeks in the middle of February.
And southern California offers more than awesome weather. In 45 minutes you can be surfing the cool waves of the Pacific, riding the loops at Disneyland, or taking in a California Angels game. In an hour you can get to Dodger Stadium or the Great Western Forum, home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kings.
Sometimes you'll want to escape the heat for a while. Try heading an hour into the San Bernardino Mountains for some winter skiing. Or drive about 90 minutes into LA for museums, concerts, plays, television studios, and art galleries. You can even chase movie stars and have your picture taken outside million-dollar houses (but most La Sierra students try to act a little more sophisticated when their friends are watching).
You don't need to drive anywhere, though, because you can spend weeks just enjoying the neat stuff on La Sierra's campus. Discover mammals and minerals and a lot more in the college's World Museum of Natural History. Study a painting in the Brandstater Art Gallery (or paint your own picture and hang it there). Take a plunge in one of three swimming pools or join the intercollegiate basketball, volleyball, or other sports teams. Near the campus you'll also find places to golf, rock-climb, or ride horses.
The SIFE way
If you're interested in business or in helping people, listen to this: For two years straight La Sierra students won the national championship (beating out 342 other colleges) in a competition sponsored by Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). This national organization encourages students to start small businesses and other programs to benefit their communities.
Some of La Sierra's recent SIFE activities include giving job seminars at homeless shelters, running a dry-cleaning business, developing a new line of cosmetics, providing economic and marketing consultation to local businesses, and sponsoring job fairs. Sure, the students are getting incredible experience for their r‚sum‚s, but they're also reaching out to hundreds of people in their community.
If you stroll around the La Sierra campus, you'll also discover some fascinating teachers. Religion professor Bailey Gillespie has spent years studying and writing books about how faith develops in young people. A few years ago he and some other faculty members started the John Hancock Center for Youth Ministry. They provide research, books, and all kinds of good ideas to youth pastors and everyone who cares about Adventist teens.
The professors at La Sierra love to travel. Even better, they love to take their students with them. One tour to Israel, Greece, and Italy happens every year. Others go to Europe, Peru, Kenya, Borneo, and France. Many students get college credit for these trips.
And La Sierra professors aren't just smart. Not long ago someone asked all the freshmen at La Sierra what they liked best about the college. And the number one answer was the teachers. Freshmen described their teachers as "caring" and "willing to take time."
The college has received national awards for having great academic advisers. (Believe me, it's important to have a patient adviser, especially if you end up switching classes every semester and changing your major six times before you graduate.)
When you talk to the people at this school, you can tell they're proud of the variety at La Sierra. The university enrolls students from 58 countries and 39 different religious denominations. This diversity makes La Sierra the perfect place to learn about life.
And the gorgeous California sunshine makes it a great place to learn about surfing. Not a bad way to get an education.