Cal Lutheran Begins 2025-26 Academic Year with Improved Student Experience

The 2025-2026 school year begins at California Lutheran University on Aug. 25 with over 1,000 incoming undergraduate and graduate students.

To better serve students and their families by connecting some of the most critical campus offices that support student enrollment and graduation needs, the university has established a new Student Central. This convenient location brings together Academic and Registrar Services, Student Accounts and Financial Aid, all under one roof where students can register for classes and check financial aid and account balances.

The first cohort of the Teach Ventura County residency program begins its 10-month teaching placement in local elementary school districts this fall. This partnership between Cal Lutheran’s Graduate School of Education and the Ventura County Office of Education provides grant funding to graduate students while they earn their credentials and gain practical, in-classroom experience under the guidance of mentor teachers.

Cal Lutheran continues to celebrate its diverse undergraduate and graduate student body that reflects the school’s commitment to a diversity of faiths and cultures and creating educational pathways for people of all backgrounds.  

Of the 590 first-time and transfer undergraduate students, 39% are the first in their families to attend college; they represent 31 religious denominations. Cal Lutheran is a Hispanic-Serving Institution with 42% of the incoming undergraduate class identifying as Hispanic. The university has actively grown its Hispanic student population by reducing barriers that disproportionately affect traditionally underrepresented students.  

Over 500 graduate students are expected to start their educational journey at Cal Lutheran this academic year. The doctorate in psychology (PsyD) and master’s in marriage and family therapy (MFT) degrees are this fall’s largest cohort-based programs. 

John A. Nunes, Ph.D., will be inaugurated in October as the university’s ninth president. This momentous occasion will showcase this school year’s theme of “Where Dreams Take Flight.”

“Exemplifying the 500-year tradition of Lutheran education, Cal Lutheran extends radical hospitality to open-minded students seeking to pursue questions of social justice and engage in critical inquiry,” Nunes said. “I believe that by ensuring all our students feel a sense of belonging, we can be the place from which their dreams take flight.”

To learn more about course offerings or pursuing a degree at Cal Lutheran, visit CalLutheran.edu.