Vanguard University is a private, Christian, comprehensive University of liberal arts and professional studies equipping students for a Spirit-empowered life of Christ-centered leadership and service. Since 2010, the U.S. News & World Report has ranked Vanguard in the top 10 among the best baccalaureate colleges in the west in their rankings of colleges and universities, and The Princeton Review named VU a 2014 "Best in the West" College. Vanguard is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
The vision that guides the VUSC community is rooted in the University's heritage as an institution of the Pentecostal tradition, which was birthed out of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California turn of the twentieth century. From its inception, the movement generated a multicultural, multiracial, and gender-inclusive community of Spirit-empowered Christian believers committed to peacemaking and reconciliation. With global consciousness, these foremothers and forefathers of a renewed Christian faith carried the good news of the gospel around the world.
A strong commitment to cultural diversity, racial reconciliation, and gender equality is a consequence of VUSC being deeply grounded in the faith tradition that brought the University into existence. Moreover, these core values continue to define the institutional vision that pulls the VUSC community toward its mission and educational targets and goals. Within this Christian context of inclusiveness, the University aims to provide a quality educational experience by cultivating the Spirit-empowered life in Christian experience and service, promoting academic excellence that integrates faith and life, and providing professor-mentors a dynamic community environment.
The mission of Vanguard University is to pursue knowledge, cultivate character, deepen faith, and equip each student for a Spirit-empowered life of Christ-centered leadership and service.
Vanguard University will become a nationally-recognized leader in Christian higher education by cultivating academic excellence, character development, and global perspective as seeds of greatness in each student's life.
At Vanguard, we cultivate academic excellence, character development, and a global perspective as seeds of greatness in every student's life. These seeds of greatness take root in a supportive and challenging learning environment. We are dedicated to walking with you toward the calling on your life. Together we look beyond the horizon to consider the needs of our neighbors and the nations. We invite you to experience how a biblically-based transformational learning environment will prepare you to succeed and thrive.
At Vanguard, we have come up with the perfect mix: unbeatable academic training, a caring community where lifelong friendships are born, a beautiful campus near Southern California's beaches and cultural attractions, and a strong spiritual foundation that puts Christ at the center of it all. We go beyond scholarship, beyond the classroom, and beyond the expected—equipping you to lead the story God has for you.
The Professional Studies Program at Vanguard University is dedicated to assisting non-traditional students in reaching their goals by providing quality education in an accelerated format.
Our professors are committed to quality education with relevance to the marketplace's demands and are committed to a Spirit-empowered life of Christ-centered leadership and service.
Vanguard University offers a wide variety of academic programs to choose from, so you can make an impact in almost any field when you start your career. With outstanding faculty and small class sizes, every diploma we grant is backed by personalized instruction.
Your life will be fostered in a diverse campus community located in one of the most robust, vibrant coastal cities famed for its sunny weather. You will be surrounded by the career opportunity that comes with living in Southern California. Most of all, your journey will be knitted together with lasting friendships, professor-mentors, and faith in Jesus Christ.
Plugin and serve the community in a way that fits you.ICC (the Inter-Club Council from the Office of Student Engagement) is a network of student clubs and organizations on campus. It is the official governing body for all student clubs and organizations. ICC meets once a month with all club presidents and the ICC advisor, the Student Programming Coordinator. The Inter-Club Council strives to encourage co-curricular learning and personal development through intentional student engagement. Vanguard clubs and student organizations connect the campus community by creating diverse avenues for meaningful involvement. ICC supports the mission-driven work of clubs and student organizations and seeks to equip student leaders with vital skills and resources to make their organizations more effective, inclusive, impactful, and sustainable.
During the summer of 1920, Harold K. Needham, D. W. Kerr, and W. C. Peirce opened a school to prepare Christian workers for the church's various ministries. The new institute, Southern California Bible School, moved from Los Angeles to Pasadena in 1927. In 1939 it was chartered by the State of California as a college eligible to grant degrees. It became Southern California Bible College-the first four-year institution of the Assemblies of God. In 1943 the college received recognition by the government for the training of military chaplains. It moved to the present campus in 1950. The name was changed to Southern California College nine years later when major liberal arts majors were added to the curriculum.
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