La Sierra charts financial pathway, grows enrollment, sets strategy

The La Sierra University Board of Trustees approved a four-year university budget through the 2028-2029 school year based on aggressive growth in freshman enrollment in years two and three and a moderate growth in year four. Year one, which begins July 1, 2025, is based on 100% of last year’s actuals.

As of June 26, 2025, the university has an almost 300% increase in registered freshman students, compared to the same time last year. It is also ahead in the number of graduate and transfer registered students, compared to last year at this time. Overall, compared to the same time last year, the university is experiencing a 200% growth in new student registration. These figures do not include students in the criminal justice program expected to register later this summer.

La Sierra is a Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists university. It serves the mission and values of the Seventh-day Adventist church and its focus on serving Adventist constituents has resulted in an increased percentage of registered students from Adventist academies.

"We will become the destination of choice for those wanting a Christ-centered, inclusive community." -- Christon Arthur, President, La Sierra University

The university has targeted enrollment benchmarks of bronze, silver, and gold-level goals. It has taken steps to increase student retention and has set an initial long-term goal of 3,000 total enrollment by 2035, with final targets to be approved this fall.

“While these are steep objectives, La Sierra University is well positioned to meet the challenge and is making good progress through an integrated and dedicated team effort—with God alongside of and before us, and the right team on board, we will make the impossible possible,” said La Sierra University President Christon Arthur. “We will become the destination of choice for those wanting a Christ-centered, inclusive community that is responsive to students, that offers intellectual excellence, and progressive, relevant Adventism.”

This school year, the university has increased investments in marketing and recruitment, as well as shifted the opening of its annual fall enrollment period by two months to coincide with the fall enrollment periods of other schools. This positions La Sierra University to be a first choice for high schoolers considering their college options.

Additionally, the university’s enrollment services department rolled out a pilot program offering residence hall incentives to all first-year Adventist students. The department is also pursuing plans to hire recruiters and has invested in direct outreach to admitted students with welcome gift boxes mailed to those accepted to La Sierra University. Along with these new initiatives and recently incorporated new technology, the department is looking forward to significantly enhancing its responsivity to potential students.

To enhance its marketing, the university’s social media presence and digital advertising has considerably increased through the efforts of expert interim leadership and additional team members.  

Throughout the past six months, the university’s strategic planning committee has renewed a university strategic plan with a core purpose––to cultivate human potential to better God’s world. Additionally, the committee identified seven core values, institutional strengths and growth opportunities, along with action steps to guide both institutional and individual efforts and maintain accountability going forward. The strategy development process has been informed by campus surveys, stakeholder input, and studies on Adventist higher education.

Recent strategy sessions have provided faculty and staff opportunities to identify one-year and three-year initiatives to be pursued beginning in the 2025-2026 academic year. These initiatives will facilitate the university’s mission-focused growth, while at the same time differentiating it from competitors, reestablishing its financial health, and creating a campus culture that propels the institution into the future. These efforts will be enhanced by newly established key metrics and accountability structures.

To build a more cohesive campus culture, a communications plan has been developed that will reinforce the university’s core values and purpose, keep at the forefront its key strategic elements, and that will be shared with the university’s primary audience. Quarterly employee meetings initiated in January provide platforms for administration to further update the campus about operational progress and activities, as well as answer questions.

The university is investing in its most important attribute, its people. The May Board of Trustees approved four faculty for tenure – Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Marlene Ferreras; Associate Professor of Health and Exercise Science, Kim Fieler; Associate Professor of Biology, Jesse Grismer; and Professor of Ethics and Philosophy, Ronald Osborn.

“We will only go as far as our people will take us,” Arthur asserts. “We are investing in our people, equipping them to take the university to destinations that are uncommon. To quote Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.’”

Arthur concludes, “we are growing our people to imagine the future of the university, then creating that future for ourselves. With God, our future is both unknown, because we have not yet imagined it, and secure, because God is in it. The best is yet to come.”