La Sierra University — Attraction in Riverside

Update:

I felt the need to update my review of La Sierra University due to the amount of attention that my original review attained and in order to further clarify certain aspects of my original review.

As a Military Veteran I attended LSU utilizing my GI Bill. At the time of my attendance the campus did not offer a dedicated team or staff member that could tend to the unique requirements of Veterans and requests from the Department of Veterans Affairs in a timely manner. There were many occasions in which I would have to call and remind the representative in charge of the program at that time to certify my attendance at the university in order to receive my financial aid from the VA. On at least one occasion there was a significant lapse in aid as the representative failed to certify my attendance for a significant amount of time. I had to reach out the VA directly and request a financial hardship payment in order to keep up with my bills I had at the time since I had no other form of income during my time as a student there.

Other campuses that I had attended prior to LSU always had a dedicated team of experts to assist Veterans on their higher education journey, even including small community colleges. I did not understand why a university of this size did not have something similar.

Some of the buildings on campus were brand new, including the equipment, and conference halls. Though on the other hand other buildings on campus were rapidly deteriorating to include the very desks and chairs students sat in everyday. On occasion when a student brought this up to a staff member or professor it was explained that although the university does generate a significant income from student's tuition the profits have to be distributed to other sister schools and programs within the organization.

Although the university offered great opportunities for students by providing jobs for them, to include opportunities for recent graduates. Some of the positions these recent graduates filled were counselors and tutors. Thought it is a great idea it failed to address key issues such as being able to reach someone with the proper knowledge of programs, available financial aid, and the ability to approve or deny eligibility for said programs. Being that most of the staff was comprised of student workers there was almost always a bottleneck in order to retrieve correct information or approvals.

You will also be required to attend service at least once a week if you commute to campus. If you are in the dorms I have heard it is up to at least 3 times a week, but I cannot confirm that as I did not live on campus. You need to keep this in mind as this was mandatory and I had plan accordingly. Though it was mandatory not everyone that attended respected the service or even seemed the least bit interested. Often people were sprawled out on the benches taking a nap, talking to one another, or playing on their cellphones and portable video game consoles.

As I understood Loma Linda University is a sister school of LSU so many of the students attending LSU were simply doing so in order to find an easier application path to Loma Linda. Things may have changed since my time there but this was the overall goal of many of my peers.

Ultimately I ended up withdrawing from LSU for the reasons mentioned above as well as others not mentioned. I do not know how significantly things have changed since my attendance but if you're planning on attending this institution I would highly suggest you do your own research and talk to current students on their opinions, especially if you are going to be utilizing your VA...

While I wasn’t a student there luckily, I have spent time on the campus and interacted with staff and student. There is zero campus life (which for me is actually prefer) but despite that, I have reason to rate it as low as we can go. Very expensive. Very understaffed. Basically paying to be taught by other students cause all the professors are stretched to thin. I went to events and I thought they hadn’t started yet, only to find out no one ever comes. The education department is the most incompetent and uncaring from what I’ve seen and heard. Seems they are actively trying to screw up the lives of future teachers. When the school closes the community...

Worst University.. I made a payment for $313.00 For my daughter to attend.my daughter change her mind we asked for a refund the same day that we paid, they won't give our money back.. they keep making excuses and all they say is to wait and that they don't know when they can give it back .... They are THIEFS...All I want is money back....... I been speaking to Stephanie.. she said she don't know we're the money is ,they lost it.. I'm very upset...