Known locally as Cal Lutheran, California Lutheran University is a suburban liberal arts college in Thousand Oaks with just under 3,000 students. Affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Cal Lutheran offers an accepting environment for students of all faiths, and does not require students to attend chapel. You can see Cal Lutheran’s fast facts here.
Cal Lutheran emphasizes experience-based and project-based learning, and the average class size is fewer than 20 students. Most students have had 2 internships by the time they graduate, and 60% study abroad. Many professors live in the neighborhood adjacent to the university, so they are very accessible to students. Cal Lutheran does have a core curriculum that reflects a broad liberal arts education, including arts, humanities, sciences, philosophy and history-based religion, among others.
Cal Lutheran is strong in the sciences, with pre-veterinary and pre-dental advising. Other popular majors include exercise science, business, psychology and education. Many students major in multimedia game design and film and TV production are minors within the Communications major. Like many local colleges, Cal Lutheran has strong relationships with movie and television studios in Burbank, where students frequently intern.
Cal Lutheran has Division III sports and the students are very spirited in support of their teams. The school has strong football and women’s volleyball programs. While it’s not a huge party school environment (the campus dorms are all dry), students do have an active social environment. There are no fraternities or sororities at Cal Lutheran, but there are a wide variety of student groups, including cultural and academic organizations. About 25%-30% of the students are from out-of-state, and Jewish students make up the second largest group of students on campus. Freshmen are required to live in Cal Lutheran’s on-campus housing; 65% of sophomores stay on campus and housing is available all four years.
Cal Lutheran has an amazing tuition offer that they call their “Scholarship Guarantee” program. The bottom line is this: if you are accepted to any of five University of California campuses (UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara), Cal Lutheran will match the price. You will pay a public school price for a private education. You can also qualify for scholarships and need-based financial aid on top of this!
Magellan’s counselors have been on the Cal Lutheran campus many times for local conferences as well as tours! It’s a great campus. You can see some photos from our visits to Cal Lutheran here.