PUC’s Enrollment Increases for 2025-2026 Year

Pacific Union College continues to welcome more students for another year, following a pattern of positive enrollment growth. For the 2025-2026 academic year, 1,080 students are enrolled at PUC, including 228 first-time college students, 166 transfer students, and 45 graduate students. With residents in the dorms also increasing for the second year in a row, this year’s enrollment is the highest since the 2017-2018 school year, marking the fifth of the last six years with an increase.

With new programs created on and off campus, partnerships with health care institutions, and enhancements to existing departments over the last few years, around 350 students are enrolled in undergraduate-to-master’s programs to further their careers. PUC Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing, and Communication Gene Edelbach credits the changes and delivery of these new programs in making a significant difference in enrollment.

One of the departments that was rebuilt was Aviation. What was once a program with 10 students grew to over 30 applicants, thanks to new directors, instructors, curriculum reconstruction, and financial aid. They also work to acquire new plans and resources as aviation continues to improve and grow. PUC’s new MSN and MBA programs have also drawn 45 students just starting recently, and the M.A. in Communications degree is currently the only degree offered in a Seventh-day Adventist institution of its kind.

Within the nursing department, their partnership with Adventist Health has also brought in 120 students in facilities in Sonora, Mendocino, and Lake Counties. In addition, hundreds of new students are introduced to the college through the dual credit enrollment and College Early Program run by the PUC’s academic dean’s office. Sciences and humanities programs have also introduced new marketing strategies and scholarships to build a stronger foundation for students. Currently, PUC is collaborating with La Sierra University and Loma Linda University on program sharing and by partnering with local community colleges to attract more students.

The most significant enrollment growth has come from PUC’s 2-Step Program that allows students to earn both an A.S. in Nursing and a BSN at the Angwin campus and partially online. While this program is not new, changes were needed because fewer than 10 students were enrolled. Now, after restructuring, over 80 students are entirely online, with hundreds who have already completed the program.

While programs have brought in more students, PUC’s new emphasis on the Maxwell Scholarship and Pioneer Promise has also helped the cause, pushing these scholarships to qualified students who have made an impact before coming to campus.

Since taking on the role as PUC’s director of admission last year, Pauline Cidro has made it a priority to strengthen the relationship between the admissions office and recruitment team. While the admissions office handles data management and application processing, Cidro also wanted it to serve as a support for the enrollment counselors, especially when they are out traveling to connect with schools, churches, and families. Director of Recruitment Isabella Malan-Garrido ensures she and enrollment counselors are present at around 400 events each year at various fairs and events across the country to market PUC and focus on student retention across academia, spiritual life, and student life.

Enrollment Counselor Glanelle Ejurango is also the director of PUC’s Connect Ministries, an outreach ministry of students passionate about Jesus who share His love by providing a worship experience. From Northern to Southern California, they connect during church services and youth events, building relationships, ministering through praise, and inspiring young people to become worship leaders and know that PUC supports them. A vital source of support for growing enrollment stems from pastors in their congregations, where numerous students come from various churches throughout California and across the country to study at PUC.

From this execution, the admissions office and recruitment team have been able to build a strong working relationship in responding to inquiries more efficiently together, ensuring that new incoming applications and transcripts are processed rapidly and accurately, and unite in the mission of bringing more students to PUC and providing the smoothest transition from the moment they apply to stabilizing a good financial plan to stepping foot on campus.

Executive Assistant and Enrollment Counselor Andrianna Massena helps hundreds of families see the campus for themselves when they visit PUC, creating a personalized experience tailored to students' chosen majors and their families' interests, which includes connecting them with department chairs and advisors and helping them estimate a financial plan. With several PUC-hosted events each year, such as college days, sports tournaments, and college early summer programs, Massena also connects with visiting academies, ensuring they feel welcome and at home, and gives academy students a glimpse of what PUC could look like for them as college students. With general check-ins when students return home, they feel extra support, which makes PUC feel like the place where they can thrive.

“Bringing students to PUC is not a group processing event,” said Edelbach. “Each and every student has their own needs and their own plan, and we are here to customize and support as they go through the entire process. Many students are contacted as early as their freshman year and begin to show interest. Some are even engaged with us as early as our 5th or 6th grade through the PacificQuest program. Our enrollment counselors have been extremely successful. Each one of them is dedicated to doing an excellent job and cares so much about incoming students and our school.”

What makes PUC’s enrollment counselors exceptionally special is that almost every one of them is an alumnus. They have gone through the admissions process and academic programs and carry an appreciation for the school, wanting to share it with others. As counselors, they guarantee their students are having a positive experience at PUC, seek feedback to make their time more enjoyable and successful, and share their comments with specific areas on campus to help them feel seen. Building this trust, students know they are heard and can count on staff to help solve any problems they may have — giving them not only a unique college experience but also the ability to improve the lives of other students.

The same goes for the marketing and communication department. As many are also alumni, every minor to major detail they create is the result of thorough thought, authenticity, and devotion to the college. With the endless jobs they carry, they heavily support admissions and enrollment by developing engaging materials — from imaging to social media — that emphasize PUC as a whole. Through this messaging, it has attracted more students to enroll, simply from a piece of paper and online presence. “We have chosen really good people to do the job,” said Edelbach.

Retention doesn’t stop in these departments, but spreads throughout the campus. PUC’s faculty strive to provide an excellent education to their students, supporting them by engaging regularly and even hosting them in their homes for department dinners and pre-vespers to build relationships.

Aimee Leukert, PUC vice president of student and spiritual life, is not surprised that enrollment is up this year. “The energy on campus amongst our students, faculty, and staff is so incredibly positive,” she said. “I believe that prospective students are talking to their friends who are up here, or seeing the work that is happening in our departments, or coming up for a visit — and they want to be a part of it!"

This year’s enrollment increase showcases the time, dedication, and care that faculty and staff put into PUC. “Our mission is to provide Seventh-day Adventist, Christ-centered education to as many people as possible,” said Edelbach. “The more people that we can influence by having them involved, the better we are doing our job. In addition, we want high quality. If we have the appropriate amount of students coming to school and a balance in revenues versus expenses, we are able to do a much higher-quality job with every student that's here.”