Fresno Pacific University is the Valley's only accredited Christian university, connecting every student's untapped potential with unlimited opportunity for professional, personal, and ethical growth. FPU offers more than 100 areas of study to about 4,000 traditional undergraduates, adult degree completion, graduate and seminary students at the main campus in Southeast Fresno and throughout the Valley at regional campuses in North Fresno, Visalia, Bakersfield, and Merced as well as online. Our students chase big ideas and explore deep faith through five schools: The School of Business, the School of Natural Sciences, the School of Humanities, Religion and Social Sciences, the School of Education, and Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. The university also reaches about 10,000 students through professional development studies.
Since class opened in 1944, FPU has encouraged first-generation students to achieve more, while building the region's highest four-year graduation rate. We make education accessible by providing financial aid to 98 percent of traditional undergraduates—and a four-year graduation guarantee to those who qualify. Not just a Hispanic-Serving Institution, FPU is among the nation's top 10 HSIs for highest Hispanic graduation rates, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The university is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and included in U.S. News & World Report's top tier among Regional Universities—West.
They are preparing students to achieve more than they thought possible starts with faculty. More than 80 percent hold doctorates, and all combine challenging scholarship with real-world application. Individual attention and contact beyond the classroom support lifelong learning through faculty-student relationships.
Fresno Pacific University develops students for leadership and service through excellence in Christian higher education. Fresno Pacific is a leading Christian university known for academic excellence, innovative programming, and spiritual vitality.
In addition to quality academics, Fresno Pacific University is committed to providing its students with valuable services and formative experiences. Student Life provides information, opportunities, and services that aid students' holistic development and their ability to succeed in today's job market. Services are offered in career development, disability services, health services, residence life, commuter life, housing, leadership and spiritual, development. The College Hour chapel program and outreach ministries also enhance students' potential as vital members of society and the Kingdom of God.
Fresno Pacific University is a home away from home for international students from 40 different countries worldwide. Our largest student populations come from Congo, China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. Besides the international students, Fresno Pacific University hosts approximately 1,400 undergraduates and 900 graduates. Most of the students are involved in sports, clubs, musical groups, missions, and other activities.
Most international students also enjoy being a part of FPU's International Club. This club is open to all students interested in getting to know students from different countries by learning about different cultures, religions, and languages.
We hear it all the time. FPU students know their degree will help them succeed as they start careers or apply to top graduate programs—including our own. About 80% of our professors have the highest degree in their field and are committed to research and publishing in their field of expertise. They also serve as mentors to students, engaging them outside of class and developing professionally, ethically, and personally.
FPU offers a full range of general education courses. Learn about general education requirements and more. If you have not taken many college units, you may enroll in a pre-planned general education cohort. Courses are pre-scheduled to help you finish your general education requirements and ten electives before entering a Degree Completion program.
We offer various courses, workshops, certificates, and training for educators and other professionals through the Office of Continuing Education. To provide flexibility, these courses are delivered through various modalities: printed materials, texts, and online distance learning. These are not on-campus courses and may be taken at any place and at any time.
From its beginnings in Russia in 1860, the Mennonite Brethren Church has considered education necessary. Within only a few decades of their arrival in the United States, Mennonite Brethren established Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, in 1908. As Mennonite Brethren migrated to other parts of western North America in the following years, they took this interest in education with them. In 1941 the Pacific District Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches formed a "Permanent School Committee" to consider establishing a post-secondary school. In 1944 Pacific Bible Institute opened in a large residence on Van Ness Avenue in Fresno with twenty-eight students. The school was soon outgrowing its original campus in 1946 to a former YWCA building in downtown Fresno. The student body reached a peak of 178 students in 1948-1949.
The commitment to be a community of learners guided by the principles of the Kingdom of God, which seeks to use education as a means to serve God and others around the world, has remained the enduring, stable core throughout this history of growth and change. The scope of education has broadened from the original Bible institute curriculum, but only to bring Christian faith to bear on more massive arenas of life and to prepare for broader involvement in the life of the church and contemporary society.
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