Biola University competes in NCAA Division II. The Biola Eagles have been members of the Pacific West Conference (PacWest) since the 2017-18 academic year and became a full active NCAA Division II member in 2019. Biola previously competed in the NAIA, which is why some older directories still list it that way.

Biola competes in the Pacific West Conference (PacWest), an NCAA Division II conference with members across California, Hawaii, and the western United States. Several PacWest members, including Biola, are Christian or faith-based universities. Biola competes in the Pacific Collegiate Swim & Dive Conference in men and women's swim & dive and the Western Water Polo Association in men and women's water polo.

Biola began its move from the NAIA to NCAA Division II after its Board of Trustees voted to pursue NCAA membership in 2015. The Eagles were accepted as a provisional NCAA member in 2016, joined the PacWest and began competing primarily against NCAA opponents in 2017-18, and were granted full active NCAA Division II membership on July 12, 2019.

Yes. Biola competed in the NAIA from 1964 and in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) from 1994 before moving to NCAA Division II. The current and correct affiliation is NCAA Division II, Pacific West Conference. Online data showing Biola as an NAIA member is either historical or outdated.

Most Biola teams compete in the PacWest. The swimming and diving program competes in the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference (PCSC), and water polo competes in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). These are sport-specific NCAA conferences for sports the PacWest does not sponsor.

Biola sponsors 17 NCAA Division II varsity sports, eight for men and nine for women. Men's sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, outdoor track and field, and water polo. Women's sports: basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, outdoor track and field, volleyball, and water polo.

Biola's men's varsity sports are baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, outdoor track and field, and water polo.

Biola's women's varsity sports are basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, outdoor track and field, volleyball, and water polo.

No. Biola University does not sponsor intercollegiate football. Its 17 varsity programs are in basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, volleyball, water polo, swimming and diving, tennis, cross country, and track and field.

Yes. Biola is one of a small number of schools that pair competitive NCAA Division II athletics with a Christ-centered university, a learning community where all faculty, staff, and students are professing Christians. Biola Athletics describes its priorities as spiritual development, academic success, and competitive excellence, in that order.

More than most people expect, and several of them are in Biola's own conference. The Pacific West Conference includes a number of Christian and faith-based universities alongside Biola, which is one reason a student looking for serious Division II competition inside a Christian community has real options on the west coast.

What distinguishes Biola within that group is the depth of the commitment. Biola is ranked the most comprehensively Christian university in North America out of 562 institutions studied, all faculty, staff and students are professing Christians, and every undergraduate completes Bible and theology coursework toward what amounts to a minor in biblical and theological studies.

Biola is not a university that simply has a chapel; its Christian faith is the foundation of the entire institution, including athletics. Biola is a Christ-centered university built on biblically centered education, where students are challenged to think biblically about everything and where all faculty, staff, and students are professing Christians. For student-athletes, that means competing with excellence while growing spiritually through team devotions, Bible study, prayer, Christian service, and coaches who are hired to mentor and disciple, not only to win.

Biola student-athletes train and compete within a learning community where all faculty, staff, and students are professing Christians. The athletic department's stated mission is to recruit and educate a diverse group of Christian student-athletes to reach their full potential athletically, relationally, emotionally, spiritually, and academically, equipping them in mind and character to impact the world for Christ. Spiritual growth is treated as part of the athletic experience, not separate from it.

Biola is a Christ-centered university and a learning community where all faculty, staff, and students are professing Christians. Applicants share about their faith as part of admission, and students take Bible and theology classes and take part in chapel. Prospective student-athletes do not need to have every question about faith resolved, but they should be ready to engage Biola's Christian mission and community wholeheartedly. Admissions and the coaching staff are glad to talk through what that involves.

Yes. Bible and theology classes are part of a Biola education; most undergraduates, including student-athletes, complete 30 units of Bible and theology coursework, and all students take part in chapel. Teams conduct their own devotions and Bible studies, integrating spiritual formation as essential elements of their programs.

The best first step is to complete the recruiting questionnaire for your sport on the official athletics website, athletics.biola.edu, and to introduce yourself directly to that sport's coaching staff. Share your graduation year, athletic accomplishments, academic record, and highlight film or stats. Because Biola is a faith-based university, coaches also want to know you as a person and understand your faith background.

Each team's page at athletics.biola.edu lists its coaching staff and a recruiting questionnaire. NCAA rules govern when and how coaches may respond to recruits, so coaches may be limited in how they can communicate with you if you are on the younger end of the recruiting spectrum.

As an NCAA Division II school, Biola follows NCAA Division II academic eligibility standards. Prospective student-athletes should register with the NCAA Eligibility Center at eligibilitycenter.org, complete the required high school core courses, and meet the Division II GPA and test-score standards. Your high school counselor and the Biola coaching staff can help you stay on track.

Walk-on and tryout opportunities vary by sport and by year. If you would like to compete without a scholarship offer, contact the coaching staff for your sport to ask about tryouts and roster openings.

Yes. Biola welcomes transfer student-athletes, including those from community colleges and other four-year schools, as well as international student-athletes from around the world. Transfer and international eligibility are governed by NCAA Division II rules, so it is best to contact the coaching staff along with Biola's admissions and compliance offices early.

As an NCAA Division II program, Biola is able to offer athletic scholarships for all of our varsity sports programs. Like most NCAA Division II institutions, we use a partial-scholarship (equivalency) model, so athletic aid is often combined with academic scholarships and need-based aid to build a student's overall financial package. Contact the coaching staff for your sport and Biola's Office of Financial Aid for sport-specific details.

Biola is a private Christian university committed to affordability, awarding more than $70 million in aid each year, and most students receive financial aid. Aid can include academic scholarships, need-based grants, and, for recruited student-athletes, athletic scholarships. See undergraduate tuition and costs and the Office of Financial Aid for current figures and a net price calculator, and talk with the coaching staff and financial aid office about your specific package.

Biola offers more than 250 academic programs university-wide, across fields such as business, the sciences, the arts, communication, education, and ministry, all taught within a biblically centered framework. Founded in 1908, Biola pairs every undergraduate major with Bible and theology coursework. Student-athletes choose from the same full slate of programs as any other Biola student. Browse the complete list of degrees, majors, and programs.

Biola is ranked No. 31 nationally for Best Undergraduate Teaching by U.S. News, tied with Harvard, Cornell and MIT, and carries the Carnegie designation as a Research College and University. College Raptor ranks Biola No. 17 among all NCAA Division II colleges in the country. The student-faculty ratio is 13:1.

For a prospective student-athlete the practical version is this: you do not have to choose between competing seriously and graduating well. Biola's full list of rankings and recognitions is maintained by the university.

In 2025-26 Biola earned 175 D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards, more than any other school in the PacWest Conference; the next closest had 139. That award requires a 3.5 cumulative grade point average and at least two years of college work, so it counts no freshmen, and Biola's went to 159 student-athletes across all seventeen programs.

The same year, 230 Biola student-athletes earned Academic All-PacWest honors with an average grade point average of 3.618, fifty-five were named CSC Academic All-District, and the department carried a 3.452 grade point average across every program. Biola Athletics ranks in the top two percent of NCAA Division II for academic success rate. See the full academic record.

More than most Division II departments. Every Biola student-athlete works with Jamie Sommerville, an associate director of academic advising assigned to athletics, on course planning and the scheduling conflicts a competition calendar creates. Head coaches have live access to their athletes' grades and receive alerts when someone may need help, so problems surface in week four rather than at the end of the term. Structured study hall is built into the week.

Beyond that, student-athletes have named contacts inside admissions and the registrar's office, the university's tutoring and Rhetoric and Writing Center are open to them on the same terms as every other student, and each of the seventeen varsity programs is paired with a faculty teammate, a Biola professor, dean or chair who joins the team for the year.

It is planned for rather than improvised. Course planning happens with an academic advisor who knows the competition calendar, so schedules are built around travel before the season starts rather than patched during it. Student-athletes have named contacts in the registrar's office and admissions for registration and course conflicts, and head coaches see grades in real time and are alerted when someone is slipping.

The faculty teammate program adds one more layer: every one of the seventeen varsity programs is paired with a Biola professor, dean or chair for the full year, so each roster has a faculty member who knows those athletes as students.

Biola University is located in La Mirada, California, in southeastern Los Angeles County near the Orange County line, about 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The location gives student-athletes access to the greater Los Angeles and Orange County region and a strong base for regional competition and recruiting.

Biola's teams are the Eagles. The school colors are Biola Red and Biola Blue, and the Eagle mascot represents the program across all 17 sports.

Competitive enough to win the conference. In 2025-26 both Biola cross country teams won the PacWest championship in the same season, the women taking their fourth straight, a run matched by only two programs in conference history, before advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships. Women's track and field won the program's first PacWest outdoor title, 195 points to 160, ending a nine-year run by Azusa Pacific. Softball went 3-0 to win the NCAA Division II West Regional and finished 42-23 with a program-record sixteen-game winning streak, one win short of the championship finals site.

Across the department, Biola finished fourth of thirteen in the PacWest Bob Hogue Commissioner's Cup, the largest in-season climb in the conference. One of our three core values is fierce, and we believe a Christian university should use its God-given talents to compete like it means it. Read about our core values.

For recruiting, contact the coaching staff for your sport through athletics.biola.edu or fill out a recruiting questionnaire. For admission to the university, visit biola.edu/admissions. The best approach for a prospective student-athlete is to pursue both tracks at once: recruitment by the team and admission to the university.