University of Redlands
The University of Redlands is a private university in Redlands, California. Its main campus sits on 160 acres near downtown Redlands, and the university also runs eight regional locations across California to serve working adults. The school has an endowment of about $253.6 million (2024). Its colors are maroon and gray, the teams are known as the Bulldogs, and the live mascot is George Willis. The university competes in NCAA Division III in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and sponsors 21 sports.
The university has deep roots in Baptist history but is now a secular institution. It started from two earlier Baptist colleges and opened its campus in 1909–1910 with a few buildings. The early decades saw growth, challenges during the Great Depression, and expansion after World War II, including new dormitories, a library, a gym, and a chapel. The school gradually added more programs and built a stronger alumni network.
Today, students study in several schools and centers. The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) serves about 2,400 undergraduates and 100 graduate students, with approximately 187 full-time faculty and a student–faculty ratio around 13:1. Johnston Center for Integrative Studies lets students design their own majors through contracts and narrative evaluations. The Conservatory of Music (formerly the School of Music) has about 350 music students and offers bachelor’s degrees in music and a master’s in music, as well as many performance opportunities for all students. The School of Business educates working and traditional students at the Redlands campus and regional locations, and the School of Continuing Studies offers certificates and non-degree programs. The School of Education prepares teachers and leaders, and the Graduate School of Theology formed in 2019 from a merger with the San Francisco Theological Seminary.
In 2019, the Graduate School of Theology joined the university as part of a broader collaboration with the Graduate Theological Union. The university continues to expand, with plans to incorporate the Presidio Graduate School (announced in 2022 and still pending approval as of 2024) and to acquire Woodbury University in Burbank (announced in 2024).
Student life includes guaranteed housing for most undergraduates, with many residence halls designed as living-learning communities focused on themes such as freshmen year, social justice, or substance-free environments. The campus is well connected to the Los Angeles area, with the Arrow rail line’s Redlands–University station opening in 2022 to ferry students to Los Angeles and beyond. About 20 percent of CAS undergraduates are student-athletes, and athletics are a strong part of campus life. Since 2009, many varsity teams have ranked in the top 25 nationally within NCAA Division III and SCIAC.
The university emphasizes service, with a Community Service Learning program that involves students in mentoring, building projects, and other community work, totaling more than 120,000 hours each year. The campus has earned recognition as a Tree Campus USA for its commitment to the environment. The Redlands campus has also served as a filming location for several movies and TV shows, and parts of the campus were used in the 2023 film A Little White Lie.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:38 (CET).