La Sierra No. 1 Adventist school on Forbes financial grades list

06/01/2026 Darla Martin Tucker

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – www.lasierra.edu – The numbers are in from the annual America’s College Financial Grades by Forbes magazine, and La Sierra University’s report card shows strong institutional financial health, outpacing many others on a list of more than 900 schools, including peer institutions.

Freshmen gather for a group photo during orientation week in September 2025. (Photo: Emily Penor)

Freshmen pause for a fun photo opp during Ignite orientation week's haystacks feed in September 2025. (Photo: Emily Penor)

Students enter the La Sierra University Church for the Parent Blessing service in September 2025. (Photo: Emily Penor)

On May 22, Forbes published its annual financial grades which assesses the fiscal fitness of more than 900 private, not-for-profit higher education institutions with enrollments greater than 500 full-time students. Of the 11 Seventh-day Adventist universities and colleges from the North American Division graded by Forbes, La Sierra’s financial grade of B+ tops the list. Loma Linda University and Burman University in Canada, which are also part of the North American Division's higher education system, were not included in the Forbes report.

Additionally, out of 53 California schools graded, La Sierra University scored higher than the University of Southern California, Biola University, University of Redlands, Point Loma Nazarene and California Baptist University among many others. La Sierra is among only three schools in California that landed a strong grade of B+ along with the University of San Diego and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

“La Sierra is not merely surviving. We are deeply rooted and rising.” – La Sierra University President Christon Arthur

The top California schools on the Forbes list that received grades of A+ and a 4.5 GPA include the Claremont Colleges undergraduate schools of Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, Harvey Mudd and Scripps colleges, which are also located in the broader inland region of Southern California.

Forbes’ summary of the results further highlights the significance of La Sierra’s financial standing––the media company indicates that nearly half of the colleges graded for the 2026 list scored a C or lower with 27% of schools landing the lowest grade of D.

La Sierra landed a B+ grade and a 3.32 GPA. Forbes uses 10 measures to determine a school’s grade point average on financial soundness. Data is pulled from the Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics and consulting firm Perspective Data Science. Forbes notes that for this year’s report, its methodology includes data from Perspective Data Science which focuses on schools’ true liquidity, or the ability of an institution to convert assets into cash quickly without incurring a drop in the asset’s market value.

The report card arrives during a particularly challenging season in higher education which education leaders frequently describe and address through a four-element lens of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, or VUCA. In a newsletter capping the school year which ends this month, La Sierra University President Christon Arthur invoked the current VUCA environment as a backdrop for the significance of La Sierra’s substantive financial grade in Forbes.

“Enrollment pressures, shifting federal funding, and declining public confidence in the sector are reshaping the landscape around us. Yet amid these challenges, La Sierra is not merely surviving. We are deeply rooted and rising,” he writes, citing the university’s financial grade as a milestone to be celebrated.

“The best of La Sierra University is still ahead of us,” he said. “We welcome all to our table as we travel this journey of transformation and growth, continuously in pursuit of our mission to change lives through the pursuit of truth, service to others, and the knowledge of God.”’

Watch for announcements on La Sierra’s Instagram, X, LinkedIn and other channels.