San Diego, CA: Visiting Point Loma Nazarene University was quite interesting. Thisschool looked exceptional, with neatly trimmed grass, vivid flowers and cleancampus, spectacular ocean view and cool sea breeze, yet something bothered me. Iam not a very religious person and don't attend church regularly, so my opinionof this school is somewhat biased.

Since Point Loma is a private school,it has fewer students, a higher cost ($22,000 per year), and actively promotes areligious faith, unlike public colleges. Students are required to attend threeone-hour sermons a week. After asking many questions I discovered that first- andsecond-year students are allowed to miss a maximum of only eight sermons persemester. Any more absences result in a large fine which increases with eachadditional missed sermon. The tour guides said that religion is not forced uponstudents, but how can that be true if they are penalized for missingsermons?

From what I could tell, the school seemed to offer an adequatebut unexceptional number of courses, and the focus is mostly on science andhumanities. The athletic facilities were nice, and they are currently building anew weight room. The school has a rugby team, but no football team or swimmingpool.

Unfortunately, the tour did not visit the food court or the dorms soI can only guess what they look like based on the photographs inbrochures.

Although Point Loma Nazarene University has a gorgeous campusand friendly people, the emphasis on religion made me change my mind aboutfilling out an application.


Reviewed in 2002