10,000 Students and Counting: Westcliff University Celebrates a Milestone Built Together

The number arrived in an email: 10,017.

Westcliff University had officially surpassed 10,000 students.

For  Dr. Anthony Lee, President and CEO the milestone was both a reason to celebrate and a confirmation that Westcliff’s approach was working. The university had continued expanding its programs, extending its reach and creating new ways for students to pursue an education. As long as Westcliff remained focused on those priorities, continued growth was a reasonable expectation.

Reaching 10,000 students gave the university an opportunity to pause and recognize what that growth represents. Each student made a decision to pursue an education, take on a challenge, change a career or create a different future.

That is the story behind the milestone.

A University Transformed

Westcliff University today looks remarkably different from the institution it was a decade ago.

Its academic scope has expanded into new disciplines, including law, nursing and health sciences. Its footprint now extends to 12 locations worldwide, complemented by online and hybrid programs that make a Westcliff education accessible well beyond a traditional campus.

In 2019, Westcliff welcomed Western State College of Law, Orange County’s oldest law school with over 100 judges on the Orange County bench. This landmark addition enriched the university with a distinguished 60-year legal legacy and a network of over 12,000 alumni.

Athletics has also become a defining part of the university experience. Westcliff joined the NAIA and Cal Pac in 2021 and now fields 16 varsity teams. Its student-athletes have earned 11 national championships, 32 conference championships along with more than 40 NAIA All-American honors.

The university’s Surf Team captured the 2026 NSSA Collegiate National Championship, while the Cheer Team has won three national championships in four years. New programs, including Women’s Flag Football and STUNT, continue to create opportunities for student-athletes.

Westcliff’s student body has become increasingly global, with more than 130 countries represented across the university.

“There’s over 130 countries represented in our student body,” Dr. Lee said. “We have been successful providing various models of educational delivery, whether that’s online, whether that’s hybrid, whether it’s through all these different locations we have throughout the world.”

The university’s scale has changed dramatically. Its focus remains on creating more ways for students to access an education that can move their lives forward in a meaningful way.

“That was a vision that we all achieved together,” Dr. Lee said.

The Stories Behind the Number

Enrollment figures measure growth. The experiences of Westcliff’s students reveal what that growth means.

For Dr. Lee, some of the clearest reminders come from students whose journeys to graduation have been anything but easy. He remembers one doctoral student who was battling cancer and considering leaving her program. Her husband encouraged her to attend class just one more time.

She went. For two hours, surrounded by classmates and absorbed in learning, something unexpected happened.

“She said to me, ‘For those few hours I was in class, I forgot I was sick,’” Dr. Lee recalled.

It is one story among thousands, but it captures the human significance of reaching 10,000 students.

Across Westcliff, students are pursuing degrees while building careers, raising families, competing as athletes, adapting to new countries and working through challenges that may never appear on a transcript. Their circumstances are different, but they share a belief in the possibilities an education can create.

The People Who Made the Growth Possible

Ask Dr. Lee what has allowed Westcliff to grow, and he begins with people.

“I really, truly believe it’s the people that we have that are a part of our institution,” he said.

As Westcliff has expanded, faculty, advisors and staff have remained central to the student experience. Dr. Lee regularly hears from graduates who can name the person who helped them keep going: a professor who challenged them, an advisor who guided them through a difficult moment or a staff member who helped them see a path forward.

“They wouldn’t have gotten through this program and graduated if it wasn’t for this faculty member, if it wasn’t for the student advisor,” he said.

That people-first culture has shaped the university’s development. Faculty bring professional experience into the classroom, connecting academic learning with the realities of the workplace. They also help the university respond as industries evolve and the needs of students change.

Dr. Lee traces part of that culture to one of the pivotal chapters in Westcliff’s history: achieving WSCUC accreditation in 2018. He credits the late Dr. David C. McKinney, an important mentor and role model who played a significant part in that process, with reinforcing values of compassion, empathy and collaboration that continue to influence the university today.

Preserving that sense of personal investment remains essential to Westcliff’s identity.

Growing With Purpose

As a university expands, the student experience must grow with it.

For Westcliff, Dr. Lee said, decisions about new programs and locations begin with the needs of students and the communities the university serves.

“We look at the markets, of course we look at the demand, but we look where students are needed, what kind of programs are needed,” he explained. “And we look at the locations of where students need to get their education.”

That approach has guided Westcliff into legal education, healthcare education, new geographic markets and more flexible models of learning. It has also kept attention on whether students are receiving the academic quality and personal support they need.

Westcliff continues to evaluate student retention, graduation and satisfaction as the university grows.

“We’ve grown from 1,000 students to 10,000, but one thing that hasn’t changed is our commitment to quality,” Dr. Lee said. “That’s incredibly important as you grow.”

The responsibility now is to preserve that balance: expanding access, maintaining quality and ensuring that individual students continue to receive personal attention.

A More Connected University

Growth has changed the size of Westcliff and strengthened the community students encounter when they arrive.

With students representing more than 130 countries, a Westcliff classroom can bring together perspectives, experiences and cultures from around the world. That diversity extends beyond the classroom. Events such as Westcliff’s International Food & Culture Festival give students, faculty and staff opportunities to share their traditions and experience the breadth of the university community.

“What’s really exciting is bringing together all the communities that represent Westcliff University,” Dr. Lee said.

Those connections continue after graduation. Every graduating class expands Westcliff’s alumni network, creating relationships among professionals living and working around the world.

“Our goal is to connect everybody together all over the world, to support each other in any way they can,” Dr. Lee said.

At 10,000 students, that network is becoming larger, stronger and more capable of creating opportunities for students, graduates and the communities they serve.

What Comes Next

Westcliff’s next chapter will build on the same approach that brought the university to this milestone: identifying where students need greater access, understanding where the workforce is changing and developing programs that respond to both.

The university expects to continue developing its healthcare offerings, exploring opportunities in new communities and creating academic programs aligned with a rapidly changing economy. Artificial intelligence will be part of that evolution, with increasing emphasis on helping students use AI ethically and effectively while strengthening the human capabilities that will distinguish them professionally.

Growth will create new opportunities for collaboration across Westcliff’s schools, locations and international community. It will also extend the university’s ability to connect students with faculty, employers, alumni and one another.

Enrollment will continue to measure Westcliff’s reach. Its lasting impact will be measured by what its students accomplish and what becomes possible in their lives because they attended.

“I hope that in 10 or 20 years from now, our students will think about Westcliff University and just remember that we opened doors for them, we changed their lives, and we made a long, meaningful impact on their success,” Dr. Lee said.

Ten thousand students is worth celebrating. It represents 10,000 individual ambitions, thousands of lives already changed and a Westcliff community prepared for what comes next.