AULA Fast Facts

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Looking for some quick nuggets of information about
Antioch University Los Angeles? You came to the right place!

Accreditation / Nonprofit Status
Antioch University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Antioch University has had continuous accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission since 1927. Antioch University is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) institution. As an accredited institution, Antioch University’s students are fully eligible for a variety of financial aid assistance, including grants, scholarships, and loans.

Accreditation Fun Fact
Senior BA faculty member, Al Erdynast arrived at AULA in 1973, one year after the “campus” was established as an Undergraduate Without Walls (UWW), sponsored by the Union For Experimenting Colleges and Universities, in 1972. Before his arrival, the program met in Mel Sudh’s Los Angeles living room and was attended by eight students. As of August 1, 1973, the program became accredited and was jointly offered by UECU and Antioch College.

AULA classroom, students interacting with classStudent Profile
The average student age at Antioch University Los Angeles is 39. Of the more than 1,425 students at AULA, 69% are female. 39.1% of undergraduate students are eligible for Pell Grants, and 14.6% are first-generation college students. Approximately 55% of students receive some sort of financial aid, ranging from grants and loans to institutional and private scholarships. 13% of our students are first-generation college students.

Average Class Size
The average class size is eight students.

Sustainability
Our campus and curriculum reflect the social justice mission and community-focused efforts and activities that make us different. In addition to Antioch University Los Angeles’ Climate Action Plan development and the ongoing work of the Sustainability Committee, AULA has an operational commitment as well as varied programs and projects on campus.

Commencement , graduating student smiling at cameraAlumni
When you graduate from Antioch University Los Angeles, you join a community which now numbers more than 7,000 alumni. These graduates are making a positive impact in the Greater Los Angeles region and beyond. Our faculty, staff, and students greatly value the involvement of our alumni in every aspect of university life. AULA’s Alumni Association, through the leadership of the AULA Alumni Council, helps build and maintain relationships with alumni to sustain the university’s mission and provide alumni with opportunities for social and professional networking, career development and continuing education. Explore profiles of students & alumni from Antioch University Los Angeles on LinkedIn and get connected.

AULA Purpose Statement
Antioch University Los Angeles provides rigorous progressive education to prepare students for the complexities of today’s diverse societies. Combining dynamic scholarship and creative endeavor with experiential learning and reflective practice, AULA fosters personal and collective agency, global citizenship, and socially conscious leadership.

AULA Fosters Award-Winning, Innovative, and Inclusive Academic and Social Support Through Initiatives such as:

  • The low-residency Master of Arts in Urban Sustainability Program is training the next generation of urban problem-solvers to meet the world’s dual challenges of climate change and inequality. Graduates are leading the public and private sector making positive change.
  • The Horace Mann Upstanders Award, sponsored by the Education Department, honors work that promotes social action in children’s literature.
  • The Bridge Program offers a year of humanities education for college credit at no cost to students. Classes for low-income adults are taught at on the AULA campus.
  • AULA’s graduate-level LGBT Psychology Specialization (one of the first of its kind) founded Colors LGBTQ Youth Counseling Center. Colors provides free lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-affirmative counseling to young adults.
  • The low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, which requires the inclusion of social justice in students’ work, is repeatedly ranked in the top 10 in the nation by Poets & Writers magazine.

Honors and Recognition
Antioch University has been honored with the 2009, 2010 and 2011 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll Award (with distinction in 2010). In 2011, the University was named one of the top twenty colleges most committed to community service by USA Today. AULA’s low-residency MFA program was named one of the top five in the nation by The Atlantic magazine in 2007.

CalNonprofits Membership SealCalNonprofits
AULA is a proud member of the California Association of Nonprofits, a statewide alliance of over 10,000 organizations that brings nonprofits together to advocate for the communities we serve.

Commencement
AULA holds its commencement ceremony for all graduates of both the master’s degrees and degree completion programs at the end of June to confer degrees and celebrate the accomplishment of all the graduates. Completers from the Bridge Program participate in the commencement ceremony and are honored for their accomplishment.

Commencement Fun Fact
Commencement, speaker walking out to stage holding large wooden object in his armsThe ceremonial mace, a symbol of university scholarship and integrity since the 11th century, is used to lead academic processions at commencement signifying the importance of the event and the culmination of the academic process. AULA acquired one in the early 2000s. Currently, the most senior member of faculty carries it into the commencement ceremony.

Location
The Antioch University Los Angeles campus is located in Culver City, California. Click here for map and directions.
Fun Fact: The latitude and longitude for the campus is 33.99 (33°59’) | -118.38 (-118°23’)

Past Locations

Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles
In the early 1970s, Antioch University Los Angeles’ center was located on Fairfax and Santa Monica above a storefront called “The Big Man’s Shop.” Due to the space being declared a fire hazard (and only holding a capacity of 42 students) Antioch expanded to the Rose Avenue location.

Fun Fact
When AULA was located on Fairfax Avenue students sat on bean bag chairs instead of desks.

Rose Avenue Exterior, very old vintage looking photo of Antioch University Los Angeles

Rose Avenue, Venice 

The Rose Avenue campus in the 1980s was located at 300 Rose Avenue across from the iconic Rose Cafe. The Cafe used the AULA parking lot for their weekend overflow, and in exchange Antioch had a running tab. The building at the time was formerly the Rose Milk Hand Cream factory. The walls and carpets were pink. There was a closet full of left behind hand cream.

Fiji Way, Marina del Rey

Antioch University Los Angeles’ next location was on Fiji Way in a corporate highrise, where they shared space with USC’s unit for digital software for the U.S. Department of Defense.