About APU

Azusa College merges with Los Angeles Pacific College, a four-year liberal arts institution. Its name changes to Azusa Pacific College (APC).

In the same year, APC joins the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as well as the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) and competes on the national level.

Initiated by a tractor fire, APC experiences great natural disasters over the following 18 months. In addition to the destructive fire, the campus deals with two unexpected student deaths, floods in 1969, and extreme winds later that year.

However, APC survives and prevails, participating in the national NCCAA tournament and capturing the schools first national championship in 1969.

Richard E. Felix, Ph.D. becomes president. Among many other accomplishments, Felix reframes the university’s values of the school’s historic Christian mission as the cornerstones of the university – Christ, Scholarship, Community, and Service. The Cornerstones are still recognized today.

APU’s Graduate School of Theology receives accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS).

Felix culminates his presidency with the construction of seven new buildings, a doubling of student enrollment, and the quadrupling of graduate programs. He announces his retirement in April 2000, after the celebration of the university’s centennial.

The Board of Trustees unanimously selects executive vice president and APU alumnus Jon R. Wallace, DBA, to follow Felix in the role of president, effective November 27, 2000.

APU’s Graduate Psychology Program receives accreditation from the American Psychological Association (APA).

The High Sierra Program (formerly called the Great Works Program) debuts fall 2001, offering students an opportunity to study classic Western art, music, and thought in the scenic setting of California’s High Sierras.

Azusa Pacific’s All Access Program expands the learning environment through wireless computer technology, allowing students to conduct research on the Internet within 300 feet of any university building without wires or cords.

APU’s Graduate Teacher Education receives accreditation from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

APU’s School Nurse Services Credential Program receives accreditation from The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission

APU receives accreditation by the Joint Review Committee on Education Programs in Sports Medicine and the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. This establishes the present day Athletic Training Education Program.

APU’s Athletic Training Education Program receives accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).

APU’s Doctor of Psychology Program receives accreditation from the American Psychological Association (APA).

APU’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program receives accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).

After six years ranked among the top best colleges in U.S.News & World Report America’s Best Colleges Western-Universities Master’s classification, APU moves up to the prestigious national category along with schools like Harvard and Yale, ranking in the third tier. APU also ranks ninth in a list of up-and-coming universities named by U.S. News. Also, for the fourth consecutive year, The Princeton Review names APU among Best in the West.

APU’s Sports Medicine Program receives accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) (replaced CAAHEP).

APU’s School of Music receives accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).

For the fifth consecutive year, APU captures the Directors' Cup, emblematic of the Cougars’ role as the best athletics program in the NAIA for the 2008-09 year.

Dedicated September 3, 2009, the $54 million Segerstrom Science Center provides 72,000 square feet of lab, office, and classroom space. The building holds a gold LEED certification, making it a high-performance green building.