Campaign Priorities
$250 Million. Three Priorities. One Mission.
Generations ago, Biola’s founders entrusted this institution with a bold calling: to prepare men and women who would carry the light of Christ into the world. The Streams of Influence campaign is a history-making investment in that enduring mission — equipping future generations to radiate light farther than we can ourselves.
Explore Our Three Campaign Priorities:
Open Doors
Make a Biola Education Accessible
For too many students, financial barriers stand in the way of their dream to attend Biola. Open Doors expands vital support through the Biola Fund and an array of endowed and restricted scholarships — ensuring every student called to Biola can access a transformative, biblically centered education.
Gifts to the Open Doors priority allow more graduates to live out their God-given callings without the burden of excessive debt.
Featured Initiative
The Biola Fund
The Biola Fund provides annual scholarships to help make a Biola education accessible for students and families, while also supporting the faculty, programs, spiritual formation and everyday moments that make a Biola education distinct.
Additional Initiatives
What I value most about Biola is the abundance of support found here. I am a First Generation student so almost everything was new to me, but everywhere I turned, there was someone extending their hand to me.
Shape Lives
Form Students for Lives of Calling
Opening the door is only the beginning. Shape Lives invests directly in the programs and places where students experience whole-person transformation — intellectually, spiritually and vocationally. Inside innovative classrooms, labs, studios and gathering spaces, Biola students will encounter ideas, mentors, community and experiences that help shape who they become.
Gifts to the Shape Lives priority empower students to develop their God-given gifts and graduate prepared to serve Christ in every sphere of society.
Featured Initiative
Cinema & Media Arts Studio Facility
The world-class studio facility for the Snyder School of Cinema & Media Arts will rival the best media-training facilities in the nation — serving the needs of students as they prepare for influential careers in film, television, digital media and the wider culture.
Additional Initiatives
Eagles Athletic Association
The EAA makes a Biola education more affordable for student-athletes, who are enabled to use their platform of athletics to share Christ with the world.
Engineering Garage and Robotics Hangar
Two multi-million-dollar state-of-the-art engineering facilities, now under construction, will add more than 6,000 square feet of space on Biola’s campus — a dynamic, hands-on learning space where students will design, test and build projects such as racing vehicles, robotic systems, aerial drones and machine learning. With both land and air transportation technologies expected to see substantial innovation and growth in the next decade, these facilities will serve as a launchpad for students preparing for careers in high-demand sectors.
Technology Expansion
Announced in October 2025 as the largest gift in Biola University’s history at more than $40 million, the anonymous donor’s gift has now been fully realized at more than $60 million in support of technology education at Biola. The money went entirely to the School of Science, Technology and Health to fund physical infrastructure, student scholarships, endowed professorships, specialized summer internships in artificial intelligence, expanded programs and research partnerships with industry and academic institutions.
Cook Plaza and Entryway
Grand, 7-foot BIOLA letters and new uplit palm trees have beautified and branded Biola’s main entrance as a result of a gift from the estate of Dr. Clyde and Anna Belle Cook, who served for 25 years in the roles of president and first lady. The newly renovated main entrance is known as the Cook Plaza and Entryway in honor of Dr. Cook and his family.
Biola Student Managed Investment Fund
The Biola Financial Planning Association manages over a quarter-million dollars of real investment money. Students pitch stock ideas, design risk-efficient asset allocations, and ensure that the investment money is impacting culture in a way that is consistent with a Biblical worldview. Students compete annually against five other local universities in order to manage real money on behalf of the CFA Society of Orange County for a prestigious scholarship from the CFA Society of Orange County.
Artificial Intelligence Lab
The Artificial Intelligence Lab at Biola aims to be a leading resource center for Biola faculty, staff and students to understand and responsibly utilize AI in a moral and ethical manner, rooted in Christian values.
Endowed Chairs
Current endowed chairs include:
- Rosa Endowed Chair in Molecular Biology
School of Science, Technology and Health. Funded by a $2.5 million gift from parents Dave and Deanna Rosa as the school’s first fully endowed chair. Currently held by molecular biologist Dr. Douglas Axe. - Promod and Dorcas Haque Endowed Chair in Computer Science, Technology, and Math
School of Science, Technology and Health. Held by Dr. Yohan Lee. - Fred and Ruth Waugh Endowed Chair in Pentecostal Studies
Talbot School of Theology. A full-time, tenure-track faculty position dedicated to distinguished scholarship and expertise in Pentecostal theology and tradition. - The Wesley and Joy Daniels Endowed Chair in Software Engineering
School of Science, Technology and Health. - The John & Virginia Elsen Chair in Artificial Intelligence
School of Science, Technology and Health. - The Steve & Jeanette Antoniuk Chair in Engineering
School of Science, Technology and Health.
I value the way in which Biola is preparing me not just for my professional life in the future but for my Christian life in the present. The community of believers, faith integration in the classroom, worship opportunities, and Christian mentorship from faculty all allow me to pursue holistic spiritual growth as I also pursue my academic and professional goals.
Shine Light
Extend Biola's Influence Into the World
Biola’s mission does not end at our campus borders. Shine Light extends our Christ-centered scholarship and expertise into areas of critical ministry, cultural and human need. Through strategic centers, groundbreaking research and active partnerships, Biola equips leaders to engage the world with biblical truth and intellectual rigor.
Gifts to the Shine Light priority allow our community to radiate light to some of the places where it’s needed most — churches and counseling offices, classrooms and boardrooms, neighborhoods and nations.
Featured Initiatives
Center for Evangelism and Missions
Housed at Biola’s Talbot School of Theology, the new Center for Evangelism and Missions will offer practical training and resources to equip pastors, church leaders and believers to share the gospel with clarity and conviction in an increasingly complex cultural environment.
Center for Mental Health and the Church
The new Center for Mental Health and the Church, housed within Biola’s Rosemead School of Psychology, will offer resources and services to pastors, congregations and Christian organizations confronting a growing mental health crisis.
Additional Initiatives
Winsome Conviction Academy
The Winsome Conviction Academy is committed to helping foster conversations that deepen relationships, help to heal a fractured church and nation, foster civility and bring biblical compassion to a warring public square. Utilizing public conversations, deeply held convictions meet honest disagreements in a virtuous communication climate in which participants care deeply, think clearly, speak graciously, and listen patiently.
Talbot Embedded
Talbot Embedded is a cohort-based pathway within Biola’s Talbot School of Theology, designed for active ministry leaders who seek the depth of Talbot’s theological training within a formative learning community. Each semester combines online coursework with at least one three-day, in-person gathering in select cities in the U.S., creating a learning environment that is both flexible and purposefully structured.
Malcolm Initiative for Arts in Evangelism and Missions
The Malcolm Initiative’s mission is the utilization of the arts to glorify God in worship and witness, lifting up the magnificence of Christ toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the advance of the global church.
Nanomedicine Research Grant
Since early 2020, Dr. Richard Gunasekera, research professor of science, technology and health, has led a group of scientists and students testing the hypothesis that nanomachines can also destroy viruses, similar to their previous research shown to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Think Biblically Podcast
A weekly podcast that offers Christian perspectives on some of the most significant issues facing today's church and culture. In each episode, hosts Scott Rae and Sean McDowell — professors at Biola’s Talbot School of Theology — draw upon biblical wisdom and insights from guest experts as they explore how Christians can thoughtfully and faithfully engage with cultural trends and current events.
Biola Research Initiative for Chinese Theology
Designed to bridge the worlds of scholarship and discipleship, the initiative equips Chinese Christian leaders with the fruits of theological research and multimedia resources to fuel a new generation of faith and influence.
Hope for Kids in Care
Hope for Kids in Care exists to help churches embrace children in foster care, welcoming them into the life of the church through worship and prayer.
Read Well, Live Well
A free, pre-college summer seminar for incoming high school seniors from underserved communities. Through transformative texts, deep discussions and engaging field trips with Torrey Honors College professors, Read Well, Live Well scholars explore how great thinkers from the past speak powerfully into contemporary conversations and are equipped to make a difference in their communities.
Muslim Evangelism Initiative
The vision of the Muslim Evangelism Initiative is to mobilize the church with a global vision to take the Gospel to the Muslim world. This vision is born out of a desire to build upon Biola’s longstanding commitment to the Great Commission and to equip future generations for faithful, thoughtful and effective engagement with Muslims around the world.
Center for Marriage and Relationships
Founded in 2014 and funded by ongoing donations, Biola’s Center for Marriage and Relationships equips students, couples and churches with the tools they need to build happy, healthy friendships, relationships and marriages. By combining the timeless, cross-cultural wisdom of Scripture with relevant scholarly insights, CMR produces tools and guidance to help relationships thrive.
Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts
The CCCA is founded on the belief that art, theology and religious tradition hold rich potential for study and provides a forum of artists and scholars, hosting a variety of events and creating new online resources, and encourages a deeper awareness of the historical depths and diversity of the Christian theological-aesthetic imagination.
I value Biola because of the incredible amount of resources here. Biola is set up like a greenhouse so that we can grow and dig our roots down deep to be sent out into the world as ambassadors for Christ.