Point Loma Nazarene University is a private, Christian liberal arts institution in San Diego, California, founded in 1902.
Point Loma Nazarene University is a private nonprofit Christian liberal arts institution. It was established by Phineas Bresee, primary founder of the Church of the Nazarene, and is affiliated with that church. The university's mission is to provide higher education in a vital Christian community where minds are engaged and challenged, character is modeled and formed, and service is an expression of faith. Its core values state that truth is pursued, grace is foundational, and holiness is a way of life.
PLNU was founded in Los Angeles in 1902 by Dr. Phineas Bresee and was originally named Pacific Bible College, with a purpose of preparing women and men for service as ministers and missionaries. In 1910 the school relocated to Pasadena, where it was known for most of the next 60 years as Pasadena College. In 1973, under President Shelburne Brown, the university moved to Point Loma in San Diego and was eventually renamed Point Loma Nazarene University.
The university has a student-to-teacher ratio of 13:1, and more than 88% of students who graduate do so in four years or less. Students can take part in a summer research program and the Honors Program, where they work with a faculty mentor on an in-depth research project and present their findings at a conference during the spring semester. Students have studied abroad in 50 different countries on every continent except Antarctica in the last 15 years.
The undergraduate campus is a 90-acre oceanfront campus located at 3900 Lomaland Drive, San Diego, CA 92106, right along the Pacific Ocean. The Point Loma campus is home to over 2,000 undergraduates. Listed campus facilities include residence halls, Golden Gymnasium, a soccer field, a track, tennis courts, and a ballpark. Graduate and accelerated undergraduate students are supported at regional centers.
The university is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), reaffirmed on March 9, 2018. Its nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, its Bachelor of Science in Engineering by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, and it holds accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs, the Council on Social Work Education, and the National Association of Schools of Music. Niche named PLNU the #1 Christian College in California for 2027.