College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Biola University

CAMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #1161 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places Biola University in the 21st percentile overall.

Who it’s a good fit for

Biola University is a private nonprofit university in La Mirada, California, where the degree mix is led by Visual & Performing Arts, Business, and Psychology. Access is the strongest , sitting around the average, while affordability is the weakest, below the levels seen at many peers.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes that gap to the factors it measures, which subtracts from expected earnings, while the remainder it cannot explain also subtracts.

Return is modestly below average. Pell Grant recipients finish at a rate slightly above the entering cohort as a whole, so the access picture is one of completion rather than just enrollment.

Affordability is the clear tension: the lowest income band pays well below the published cost, and the spread between the lowest and highest bands is narrow. The admission rate is above the median for comparable institutions, and an estimated share of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

A student drawn to the largest program, Psychology, should know that the best-paid one is Nursing, with earnings more than double.

Biola University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
74.4%
Six-year completion[2]
67.6%
Four-year earnings[3]
$61,363

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$26,825
Median student debt[4]
$23,875
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$50,726

Biola University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Biola University is a private nonprofit university in La Mirada, California, enrolling 3,474 undergraduates. Its composite standing in the Azimuth ranking sits in the lower fifth among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions (21st percentile).

The university admits 74.4% of applicants, a rate slightly above the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Of students who start full time, 83.9% return for a second year and 67.6% finish within six years.

Peer medians are 83.4% and 68.8%, so both figures run close to the center of the comparison group. An estimated 25.4% of entrants arrive as transfers, which means the six-year rate describes a first-time full-time cohort that excludes about a quarter of the people who study here.

The four pillars are unevenly distributed: access is the strongest, while affordability is the weakest by a wide margin. Return and mobility sit between them, clustered in the same general range.

The shape is a private university where the financial picture is the main point of tension.

Access offers the strongest part of Biola University’s Azimuth profile, but affordability is a clear constraint. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth places access in the 46th percentile and mobility in the 44th percentile.

Azimuth places return in the 40th percentile and affordability in the 10th percentile. Access is the strongest pillar, whereas affordability is the weakest.

Pell Grants reach 26.0% of undergraduates at Biola University. The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 1,160 and 1,370.

For the ACT, the middle 50% of submitted scores fell between 24 and 29. Azimuth ranks the university #799 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 68.8%, 1.2 percentage points above the rate for the entering cohort as a whole. For mobility, Azimuth ranks the university #829 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,405 less than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Biola University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#1,161
California#79
West#160

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 44
Access & reach
National percentile: 46
Affordability
National percentile: 10
Return on investment
National percentile: 40

01 / Biola University briefing

Biola University cost & financial aid[6][7]

For aid recipients, Biola University has an average net price of $31,495, what they pay after grants and scholarships. That is above the $27,371 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $4,124, making cost a particular concern relative to similar schools.

The published cost of attendance is $62,757. Listed tuition and fees are $48,984, with room and board at $13,130.

Average financial aid savings of $31,262 reduce the sticker total for recipients. Azimuth puts the affordability pillar in the 10th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The above-peer net price and that affordability standing point in the same direction.

A standard published budget at Biola University costs $62,757, leaving families to weigh a broad range of aid-recipient costs. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $27,144 for the lowest family-income band, $25,410 for the lower-middle band, $26,825 for the middle band, $29,846 for the upper-middle band, and $37,314 for the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $10,170. Azimuth ranks the university #1,274 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid offsets a large share of the published price for the average recipient, though the resulting cost remains above that of comparable schools. Financial aid savings average $31,262 against the sticker price, and aid covers about 50% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

Among first-time full-time Title IV aid recipients, the is $31,495, $4,124 above the peer median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size). Published tuition and fees are $48,984, with room and board listed at $13,130.

Borrowing is common among undergraduates here, although the typical federal debt figure sits slightly below the comparable-school median. Among borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt is $23,875, and 93.5% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

That median is $324 below the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size). Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $50,726.

The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $271 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$26,825

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Biola University

Federal borrowing is widespread at Biola University, with 93.5% of federal aid recipients taking federal loans. Among borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt at completion is $23,875.

The median sits below the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size), by $324. Parent borrowers are a separate population, with median Parent PLUS borrowing of $50,726.

The investment picture at Biola University is shaped by earnings that sit below the peer median and a debt load that is close to the norm. Four years after completion, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $61,363, at the 55th percentile.

That is $6,887 below the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $5,405 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome at the 35th percentile.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the university's program mix, range from $46,206 in a downside case to $95,864 in an upside case, with a typical scenario of $61,363. On the borrowing side, the median federal student debt at completion is $23,875, which is $324 below the peer median of $24,199.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $271 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing for the separate parent-borrower population is $50,726. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $271 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$23,875
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$50,726

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$271/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$644/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Biola University briefing

Biola University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Biola University posts median earnings of $61,363 four years after completion, placing those earnings in the 55th percentile. Azimuth places its return pillar in the 40th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $5,405 less than the model expects for similar students. That earnings-beyond-expectations result, the gap between graduate earnings and the model’s expectation for similar students, sits in the 35th percentile nationally.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) subtracts $955. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $4,450.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $224. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250; Biola’s median is below it by $6,887. The below-peer median and below-expected earnings point the same way.

Graduate earnings at Biola University sit near the middle of nonprofit four-year institutions, with a median of $61,363 four years after completion. Azimuth places that earnings measure in the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on 1,112 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.

For earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, graduates earn about $5,405 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places that measure in the 35th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios based on the program mix run from a downside of $46,206 through a typical scenario matching the median to an upside of $95,864. An estimated 30.6% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The near-middle earnings level sits alongside below-expected earnings in the model.

Federally aided Biola University graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $61,363 four years after completion, placing the figure at the 55th percentile. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $68,250, so Biola lands $6,887 below that level.

Azimuth ranks Biola University #885 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,405 less than the model expects for similar students.

That outcome falls at the 35th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings beyond expectations measure the gap between actual pay and what the model expects for similar students.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) subtracts $955. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $4,450.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $224. The program mix centers on psychology, nursing, biology and teacher education, with smaller accounting and computer science fields.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from $46,206 on the downside to $95,864 on the upside. An estimated 30.6% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Earnings variation is wide in the university’s earnings scenarios. The downside earnings scenario is $46,206, whereas the upside scenario is $95,864; both are scenarios rather than observed groups.

Program medians, also measured four years after completion, differ across fields: Nursing at $111,200, Accounting at $91,330, and Computer Science at $78,943. The scenario range and program medians offer separate views of earnings variation.

Graduates of Biola University earn about $5,405 less than the model expects for similar students, and the university's affordability pillar sits at the 10th percentile. The published cost of attendance is $62,757, and the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $31,495, which is above the peer median of $27,371 by $4,124.

The peer median is the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size). Aid covers about 50% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, though this is an average rather than a personal quote.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $23,875 in federal student loans, below the peer median of $24,199. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $271 a month if repaid over ten years. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $50,726.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
-$955
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$4,450
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$5,405

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Biola University briefing

Biola University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Biola University admitted 74.4% of applicants to its reported entering class, a broad share rather than a forecast for any individual applicant. The rate is above the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
74.4%
Approximate lower endpoint
1160
Reported average
1261
Approximate upper endpoint
1370

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Biola University briefing

What are the largest majors at Biola University?[12]

At Biola University, program-level earnings vary enough that field choice matters. Four years after completion, Nursing has median earnings of $111,200 and 55 degrees awarded, while Accounting records $91,330 alongside 17 degrees awarded.

Computer Science sits lower at $78,943 with 15 degrees awarded. Among the largest programs with published earnings, Psychology reports median earnings of $49,450 and 97 degrees awarded.

The contrast between the higher-earning pair and these more moderate figures makes the program mix central to reading the university’s overall earnings.

Published earnings show that field choice matters at Biola University, with earnings data available for 18 bachelor’s fields.

Biola University awards bachelor's degrees across 18 programs with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is led by Visual & Performing Arts, which accounts for 15.4% of degrees awarded, followed closely by Business at 14.8% and Psychology at 13.8%.

The largest programs with published earnings are Psychology with 97 degrees awarded, Nursing with 55, and Biology with 54. The highest-earning program is also one of the largest.

Nursing graduates earn a median of $111,200 four years after completion, a benchmark ratio of 1.25x against the national median for its field. Accounting, a smaller program with 17 degrees awarded, follows at $91,330 and a benchmark ratio of 1.20x.

Computer Science graduates earn $78,943, though that figure sits at 0.74x of the national median for the field. Communication Disorders Sciences and Services and Teacher Education round out the largest programs with published earnings, with earnings of $69,087 and $51,566 respectively.

The pattern is one of concentration in fields where earnings vary widely by program. Psychology, the largest program with published earnings, reports median earnings of $49,450, while the highest-earning program, Nursing, reports more than double that figure. Across all fields, 11.4% of degrees are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 106 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report
Psychology, General 97 degrees awarded
$49,450
Film/Video and Photographic Arts 75 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 55 degrees awarded
$111,200
Biology, General 54 degrees awarded
$60,014
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services 50 degrees awarded
$69,087

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Biola University briefing

How does Biola University serve students from different backgrounds?

Completion is close to the peer benchmark, though the earnings model gives a less favorable result. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 67.6%, and Pell recipients complete at 68.8%, above the overall rate by 1.2 percentage points.

Azimuth places Biola University's mobility pillar in the 44th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,405 less than the model expects for similar students.

That earnings-beyond-expectations result, the gap between graduate earnings and the model's expectation for similar students, is in the 35th percentile.

With an admission rate of 74.4%, Biola University has a broad entry point for applicants. It enrolls 3,474 undergraduates, and 26.0% receive Pell Grants, a financial-access measure.

An estimated 25.4% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students. Azimuth places the university's access pillar in the 46th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, combining its admissions, Pell, and transfer measures into a middle-range access picture.

06 / Biola University briefing

What colleges are similar to Biola University?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Biola University.

Admissions peerOtis College of Art and Design81.8% admitted
Comparison with Biola University
MeasureBiola UniversityOtis College of Art and Design
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,363$50,900-$10,463 vs Biola University
Average annual net price$31,495$51,248+$19,753 vs Biola University · higher cost
Admission rate74.4%81.8%
Higher-admission alternativeCalifornia State University-Northridge93.5% admitted
Comparison with Biola University
MeasureBiola UniversityCalifornia State University-Northridge
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,363$59,664-$1,699 vs Biola University
Average annual net price$31,495$7,021-$24,474 vs Biola University · lower cost
Admission rate74.4%93.5%
Explore California State University-Northridge →
Nearby alternativeWoodbury UniversityNearby option · CA
Comparison with Biola University
MeasureBiola UniversityWoodbury University
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,363$66,794+$5,431 vs Biola University
Average annual net price$31,495$33,692+$2,197 vs Biola University · higher cost
Admission rate74.4%81.7%
Explore Woodbury University →
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Redlands$75,863 earnings
Comparison with Biola University
MeasureBiola UniversityUniversity of Redlands
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,363$75,863+$14,500 vs Biola University
Average annual net price$31,495$30,031-$1,464 vs Biola University · lower cost
Admission rate74.4%82.7%
Explore University of Redlands →
Lower-cost alternativeCalifornia State University-Los Angeles$3,967 average net price
Comparison with Biola University
MeasureBiola UniversityCalifornia State University-Los Angeles
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,363$59,756-$1,607 vs Biola University
Average annual net price$31,495$3,967-$27,528 vs Biola University · lower cost
Admission rate74.4%91.3%
Explore California State University-Los Angeles →
Similar profileUniversity of La VerneMatched across several measures
Comparison with Biola University
MeasureBiola UniversityUniversity of La Verne
Peer earnings · 4 years$61,363$64,109+$2,746 vs Biola University
Average annual net price$31,495$20,161-$11,334 vs Biola University · lower cost
Admission rate74.4%71.2%
Explore University of La Verne →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings