Academics

Academic Hallmarks

La Sierra offers an academic community strongly grounded in the Adventist faith and its guiding Christian principles. We are also an open community with spirit of welcome for all. Together, we explore ideas to their fullest and help each student build the skills necessary to live a successful professional and personal life as a concerned world citizen. La Sierra University is a national leader in the integration of service-learning into the undergraduate classroom. Service-learning is an educational strategy that incorporates community-based service into academic instruction to support the learning goals of a course. Our more than 50 service-learning courses offered each year allow students to enhance the curriculum while building a commitment to servant leadership. International exposure is a foundational component to the educational experience at La Sierra. Many of our students take advantage of the opportunities for international travel offered at La Sierra. Many short- and long-term study abroad, study tour and mission trips are offered every year. Our campus is consistently ranked as one of the most diverse universities in the West, and we welcome international students from more than 75 countries each year. Students work side-by-side with faculty on significant research projects in a variety of academic areas every year. This research is often selected to be presented at prestigious national conference. Student research is celebrated each year at La Sierra during our Research Emphasis week at the end of the Spring quarter.