The University of Redlands is welcoming a new Burbank-based campus as a two-year process to merge with Woodbury University ends.
The new Los Angeles County campus will offer students pathways in architecture, design, media, business, and related fields while giving the former Woodbury students “access to the broader academic and student support resources of the University of Redlands,” university spokesperson Stephanie Johnson wrote in a Thursday, July 9, email.
“This milestone reflects the University’s strategic vision in action,” Jim Ashby, previous chair of the University of Redlands Board of Trustees said in a Monday, July 6, news release. “By expanding our footprint and strengthening programs that are both market-responsive and grounded in the liberal arts, we are increasing access and opportunity for students.”
The university announced Monday, July 6, that the merger was complete.
The process that started in 2024 required approval from the U.S. Department of Education and an accrediting agency, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission.
Woodbury, which will be renamed the University of Redlands, Los Angeles, expects 3,500 students in the new school year.
The former Woodbury University is about 75 miles west of the University of Redlands’ main campus.
Under the merger, the University of Redlands assumed Woodbury University’s assets and liabilities, “as part of creating a single, unified institution,” Johnson said.
The Woodbury campus has remained open and students who were enrolled before the merger will not see a change in their academic programs, Johnson said in the email.
In the release, University of Redlands President Krista Newkirk called this a defining moment for Redlands and said the two universities share a commitment to academic excellence and preparing graduates for careers.
“The integration of Woodbury University, its student body, its highly ranked and accredited programs in architecture, art and design, and business, as well as the School of Design and Media Arts, in a location adjacent to the heart of the Southern California creative community will immediately allow us to dramatically expand students’ educational opportunities and pursuits,” Newkirk said in the release.
The new Burbank campus will boast specific academic programs, including:
- The Woodbury Business Institute (within the School of Business and Society)
- The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (within the College of Arts and Sciences)
- The College of Architecture, Design and Media, which includes the Woodbury School of Architecture and Woodbury School of Design and Media Arts.
Approval of the merger follows the university’s 2019 merger with the former San Francisco Theological Seminary, now the the San Francisco Theological Seminary, Presidio Center for Sustainable Solutions. The Marin County campus near San Francisco is home to the Redlands’ School of Business & Society and the Graduate School of Theology.
Redlands University now has four campuses, including the Riverside regional campus, which is home to the School of Education.