La Sierra University
Private College in Riverside, CA. Six-year graduation rate 58%. Median 10-year earnings $61,824.
Students who entered La Sierra University reach a median of $61,824 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 58% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $27,000 at graduation. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.3% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
La Sierra University admits 92% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. 1,917 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 13%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at La Sierra University →Academics
Completion is middling: 58% finish inside six years. 77% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 16% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,160 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $23,848 annually once grants are applied. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($44,988 versus $45,999), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 98% receive grants worth $22,678 on average. Borrowing is widespread: 62% take federal loans.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 260 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $44,988 |
| $30–48k | $44,593 |
| $48–75k | $45,518 |
| $75–110k | $47,266 |
| $110k+ | $45,999 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 714 of these 1,160 students, totalling $4,575,210 — an average of $6,408 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Riverside County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)