Biola University Overview
Located in La Mirada, California, Biola University is a private not-for-profit institution. La Mirada is considered a suburb and offers tranquility and safety near the excitement of a city center.
What Is Biola University Known For?
- The 2% student loan default rate at Biola is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at Biola.
- For the 2017-2018 academic year, 61% of the faculty were full-time.
- After graduation, Biola bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $44,500 a year. That's about 9% more than their peers at other schools.
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Biola University Rankings
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Biola.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Biola has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Other Philosophy & Religious Studies Master’s Degree Schools | College Factual |
#6 | Best Missionary Studies Schools | College Factual |
#128 | Best Business Administration & Management Schools | College Factual |
#219 | Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools | College Factual |
#240 | Best Business Schools | Business Degree Central |
#283 | Best Health Professions Schools | College Factual |
Where Is Biola University?

Contact details for Biola are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 13800 Biola Ave, La Mirada, CA 90639-0001 |
Phone: | 562-903-6000 |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/Biola |
Twitter: | http://twitter.com/biolau |
How Do I Get Into Biola?
You can apply to Biola online at: https://www.biola.edu/admissions/undergrad#apply-now
Admission Requirements for Biola
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | neither required nor recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | recommended |
Recommendations | neither required nor recommended |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Biola?
Approximately 32% of accepted students are men and 68% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 62%, and the acceptance rate for women is 65%.
Average Test Scores
About 77% of students accepted to Biola submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 540 and 650. Math scores were between 530 and 640.
Can I Afford Biola University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Biola, approximately 55% of students took out student loans averaging $9,137 a year. That adds up to $36,548 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Biola is 1.6%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Biola University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 2,132 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 3,391 full-time undergraduates at Biola, 36% are male and 64% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Biola University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 531 |
Black or African American | 92 |
Hispanic or Latino | 681 |
White | 1,510 |
International Students | 179 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 398 |
Geographic Diversity
California students aren't the only ones who study at Biola University. At this time, 36 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 45 countries are represented at Biola. The most popular countries sending students to the school are South Korea, Indonesia, and China.
Online Learning at Biola University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Biola has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 56th most popular in California for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of Biola
The following table shows how Biola is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Multicultural & Diversity Studies | #7 | #7 |
Religious Education | #41 | #41 |
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology | #70 | #70 |
Online Affordability Rankings of Biola Rankings
The following table shows how Biola is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
General Physical Sciences | #1 | #1 |
Multilingual Education | #1 | #1 |
Missionary Studies | #8 | #8 |
Physical Sciences | #13 | #13 |
Philosophy | #16 | #16 |
Religious Education | #16 | #16 |
Journalism | #16 | #16 |
Teaching English or French | #31 | #31 |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | #33 | #33 |
Philosophy & Religious Studies | #40 | #40 |
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology | #44 | #44 |
Design & Applied Arts | #46 | #46 |
English Language & Literature | #52 | #52 |
Computer Science | #54 | #54 |
Theology & Religious Vocations | #58 | #58 |
General English Literature | #58 | #58 |
General Education | #68 | #68 |
Online Growth Rankings of Biola
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Biola University was 192.3%. This is the #287 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at Biola regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Biola majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Business Administration & Management | 17% |
Communication & Journalism | 13% |
Foreign Languages & Linguistics | 27% |
General Psychology | 30% |
Journalism | 15% |
Linguistics & Comparative Literature | 38% |
Multilingual Education | 56% |
Psychology | 6% |
Theology & Religious Vocations | 3% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Biola ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Biola.
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Biola University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Robert J. Boser under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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