Reviews of Southern Adventist University (College)

Matt Jones

I went to Southern Adventist University for four years. During that time I was also a student missionary overseas in Russia. It was the most incredible and beautiful experience of my life. I was well prepared to have a fulfilling and rewarding life by Southern Adventist University..

Anita Kerce

This mural is on the building where the campus radio station is located. I love it

Nicholas Henson

Southern prepared me well for a career in financial leadership and for graduate school. I would certainly make the same choice if I had to do it again.

Ismara Boulin

Quiet and clean

Simon M. Caro

I attended this school from 92-95. Great School and dedicated professors. Overall an excellent academic experience.

Misael Polanco

Great school

Milton Hein

Beautiful campus

Barrington Mahabee

Loved it

Christina Johnson

I have attended this school off and on over the past 13 years working on different levels of nursing degrees. I love the atmosphere and true dedication and care I always receive. The school is big enough to provide a lot of resources and prestige but small enough that I am constantly running into people I know.

Thomas Manu

It's a great place

Sherraine Eresmas

Terrible the way they are gouging people for their money and finding ways to keep them there longer so they can drain them dry. My mom is working two jobs as a nurse to send my sister here. I grew up SDA and people sending their kids here think that they're safe from worldly temptation. Pssssh, they kids just get better at hiding it. You could get the same degree at a better school and not be left with a mountain of debt.

Emily

Best Adventist College in the U.S.

Romina Rivarola

Lovely campus

isaias jose ferreras alcantara

(Translated by Google) Super .... elegant and spiritual (Original) Super....elegante y espiritual

Preston Litchfield

Love this school!

David Garner

I attended this school for 5 years and literally loved it! The teachers are dedicated and careing! You will have a wonderful experience what ever your business is! And they always represent God!

nick Lampasi

Amazing school i have checked out all the other adventist schools and this one is the best by far. Check out the virtual tour.

Jaylin Palacio

We live in Oregon, and our son Eric, who recently turned 17, chose to attend SAU. This is the first time either of our children has lived so far away from home. We had a lot of questions. Every person that I communicated with via email was so helpful and addressed my questions in a thorough and friendly manner: Lis Anderson, Enrollment Advisor, gave me guidance regarding SmartStart and job opportunities for Eric. Fred McClanahan, Undergraduate Prospective Student Financial Aid Counselor, answered many of my questions and forwarded valuable information to me. He also took the time to talk with me over the phone and explain various options for financing my son’s education. Cheri Durst, MS, Retention and First Year Advising Coordinator, forwarded contact information for several departments that could answer my questions. Clarice Esquilla, Assistant Director of Risk Management, answered my questions about health insurance and played phone tag with me until we were successful in connecting. Ginger Cheney, Student Finance Team L-Z, answered my questions about the costs of attending SAU. She was also very cooperative during our visit in answering all of our questions and making sure that our son’s finances were in order. Beckie Retzer, RN, Graduate Teaching Assistant for the School of Nursing, answered my questions about SmartStart and getting Eric situated as an incoming freshman. Deanna Moore, Campus Visit Coordinator, was very helpful in answering all of my questions via email and in getting our hotel reservations made for our campus visit. Adam Brown, Director of Admissions and Recruitment, was very helpful in coordinating with the other departments to ensure that our visit would be productive. I was impressed by the way that Adam worked with all the other staff members to make sure that everything worked together smoothly. We could not have asked for a better visit. We accomplished so much, and everyone we came into contact with was friendly and encouraging. Adam was accessible and even gave us his personal cell phone number in case we needed anything else. Sylvia Mayer, Director of Nursing Admissions and Progressions, really took the time to explain to us what it takes to get into the nursing program. She was very supportive and gave Eric some great tips and encouragement for success. Conni Cash, Office Manager, gave us a thorough tour of the beautiful School of Nursing building. Lisa Patterson, Office Manager of the men’s dormitory, was very knowledgeable and reassuring. She answered all of our questions and helped Eric get checked into the dormitory. Dean Erhard gave us a great tour of the residence hall, and he also spent some time chatting with us about the career of nursing. Mary King, RN, BSN, Support Nurse, really went out of her way to make us feel comfortable when Eric went to get his TB test. We really enjoyed talking with her, and we could sense the support and encouragement of every staff member that we came into contact with. There were several other people involved, and I do not know their names. However, we are so impressed with the way that each person was so friendly and genuinely caring. Every person involved made our visit an enjoyable one. Although it was very difficult to leave our 17 year old youngest child on the other side of the United States, we can rest in knowing that he is in good hands. Thank you all for doing your work with the love of Christ. His love shines through each one of you. Keep up the good work.

Reza M

love make me cant think who a im, love can use my body to do what i dont wanna do, love its a gift and when i get love for my self, love go away so let me to tell you one reason why we wan a love in our life "one who wan to wear the crown, must bear the crown" so i try to wear the love crown.

God Jesus

All they want is money to fund the brainwashing. This is a cult ppl. Think for yourself.

Boaz

Southern Adventist University offers many degree paths and is one of the more popular Adventist Universities in the United States. Southern has traditionally been more conservative than it’s sister Adventist schools. It is a school where you can find what you are looking for, from dynamic spiritual life, to those pushing the edges of what is permissible.

Amanda Smith

Southern consistently has errors in billing, student records, etc. I was routinely over-charged. I was fined for not paying the over-charges. When Southern admitted its mistakes in billing, they refused to refund the fines. Southern misplaced thousands of dollars in payments, insisted I had not paid, refused to let me sign up for classes, and ignored my receipt record of payment. I thought I was through with this after I graduated, but ten years later they refused to send me transcripts. They insisted I did not complete exit counseling on student loans. Even when I called and explained that all my loans have been in repayment for ten years, they insisted it was not their error, and I must not have completed exit counseling. If you do attend, carefully keep your records. Be vary wary.

Sarah R.

The classroom settings are usually smaller than most. The teachers can be very helpful. The financing department and the enrollment take a long time to get back to you.

Laurel J

Some of the best years of my life! I was a student for 5 years. Their nursing program is excellent (hard but very good- they have an almost 100% pass rate on the NCLEX for many years in a row). I did not come to Southern looking for a life partner as many people probably hope to, but I do know many people who did find wonderful spouses while at Southern. I made some life-long quality mission minded friends and had so many wonderful opportunities while I was a student there. There are regular mission trips to join if interested- I went to Nicaragua on a medical mission trip. There is a diverse amount of musical and cultural activities that are promoted and presented throughout the year which is very fun. I loved participating in the inter mural sports (did volleyball and soccer) teams. I did not live in the dorms and so that may be a different experience for some, but to counter some of the negative comments left by some students, no matter where you are, YOU CAN FIND WHATEVER YOU LOOK FOR. Yes, SAU is not cheap, but no private schools are. I had zero financial help from my parents and paid every cent of my way myself...worked through school, lived off campus inexpensively, and got through on student loans. My advice to incoming students is, if you are not sure of a career path, maybe take some general edu classes at a community college and do research on different careers, meet with career counselors, and decide what you really want to do and when you are sure of it, go to Southern and graduate with a degree/career you know you can find employment in and be proud of your alma mater forever :)

Robertb Benson

We have 3 children. Our oldest began her college studies at SAU. She loved it so much. And the staff/faculty were willing to bend over backwards to help. She also enjoyed a year of learning Spanish in an affiliated SDA University in Argentina...a good experience. Last year, my son enrolled at SAU as an elementary education major!!! He is thrilled with the program and still is driven to be a missionary, PTL!!! He plans on doing one year as a student missionary teacher. Our youngest is graduating from high school this year. And he is heading off to SAU as well (12 hrs from home). We love what SAU has done for our children, and believe it may have the best spiritual atmosphere of any campus...something that strongly drew us to considering SAU, along with the tremendous Sabbath afternoon outreach opportunities for students...Gym Masters is cool, too!!! We highly recommend the SAU experience to all of our friends!!!

Rochelle Denise

I attended this school for three years. After being there for a year I dropped all my classes refusing to go back. However my parents refused to take me out so I was forced to stay. During my time at Southern I was unhappy. When I couldn't pay my school bill they refused to help me in any way. I fell behind on my payments and because my bill wasn't current I later found out that it was reported to my credit bureau, therefore giving me bad credit before I even graduated. I will not be sending any of my children to this school. No on should be made to stay at a place where they don't feel as if they're being equally treated or denied help. Southern is more focused on receiving their money than they are about sharing the love of Christ with it's students.

Debra Duran

An amazing school. It is Christian-based education but be assured that this does not take away from the quality of general education a student receives. The faculty and staff are available for any help you need. I cannot imagine anyone finding this environment anything but exceptional in all ways. I was treated with the utmost respect my four years. I would not trade my education and experience at SAU for any other college/university option available.

Al Mart

Excellent School !!!

Ryan Olivas

I visited Southern Adventist University around September 2016. I loved the location of the campus and a lot of trees and plants. They have a small car rental company the rents cars for the students for two hours. The vehicles are Nissan Leaf's which are electrical cars (Nissan's are good cars) They should get more vehicles like Toyota Prius Plug in. I visited the offices of Student Association very nice people. SAU is good if they have plenty of options for majors relating to the fields of medicine and theology etc. Decent size library, (I believe my libraries of Coral Gables, Main Library and Miami Beach are much bigger.) Also decent size shopping plaza on the campus. But for accommodations, living life it needs major improvements. There are no elevators in any of the buildings I am very worried for the handicap community. I think its a violation of the The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. Some of the steps of stairs in the mens dorm are in disrepair. During our visit we saw a couple of "bad hombres" in pick up trucks with menacing flags. Campus needs more security/police and more street lights around the dorms, church, etc because the street lighting are around the entrance of the campus. The campus needs signs and maps. To hello! pin point the different buildings around. Like that's very important!!! Also they need more fire extinguishers and better signs regarding an tornado evacuation to go to the first floor. It needs more food options around campus. Like I mean the cafeteria is open part time. And the other place which has the small cafe. Not many food options. What happens if I get hungry at night and everything is closed and they don't let you go out of the dorms. (By the way you can leave from a window on the second floor) (They have weak security system) I could have use a Nature Valley Trail Mix Fruit and nuts snack bar/midnight snack. They should have a small cafeteria on the lobby of each dorm Hall. Why did I give 3 stars?? -1 for few supermarket options they only have (Walmart is bad/Mickey Mouse) and Target (I love Target!) Chattanooga does not have Winn-Dixie, Whole Foods, Costco, Trader Joe's, Publix Sabor, Fresco y Mas, Presidente Supermarket, Sedano's not even a Milam's Market. I heard a few months later they where constructing a Publix Supermarket near by (horrible store design). -1 No and bad public transportation the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority is very bad no subway, metro or train system. And belive me I know about transit. -1 No international food! What is this???? Abuela va estar brava. Like barley hispanic, asian, middle eastern cuisine. Around town. What are you supposed to eat???? Grass! I feel very bad for the Tennesseans. It's very cold during the night and the infrastructure is crumbling. There roads are full of pot holes. Tennessee's economy failing under weak leadership (I am pretty sure who's at fault is Liddle Governor Bill Haslam-(R) and weak U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander-(R) and Bob Corker-(R).) So many years in office and they have done nada. No money is going to fix infrastructure.) What can I say? There is no place like Miami-Dade County. And the best State in the Union; Florida

Matt R

Great campus. Campus is kept looking good. Prices are in line with other private schools. Living in a dorm definitely adds to your social life.

AtomicWrangler86 .

I wanted to love this university, but couldn't. I graduated in 2010. Many of the professors were mediocre and uninspiring. I only found 3 professors that stood out. Some professors were unapproachable, as I got scolded for asking for help on an assignment more than once. Some of the older professors even taught outdated science from the 1960's. My adviser didn't even know my name. I showed up 5 minutes early for an appointment with him and he tried to rush me out of his office for his next appointment...with me. Overall, there was no guidance, and I ended up with a useless degree in a field that I wasn't happy with. The university was more interested in my tuition check rather than my future. I'm now at another university getting a different degree. Dorm life wasn't that great either. I felt it was wrong to make worship services mandatory for dorm students. People would get charged money if they skipped.

Josh Flanigan

Good disc golf course. Though construction has taken out a few holes and navigation is not the easiest. Watch out for the tee signs in the middle of the tee pads. very weird placement. But go play it anyways!

jim hopkins

This School has a reputation of racism, which is no different once you become a student, the racism this school expresses is just unbelievable. They charge you for EVERYTHING. They automatically accept everyone that applies to the school. No matter how old you are you will always be yelled at, and treated like a kid. They force religion down your throat by forcing you to go to church and convocation. AVOID this school at all costs.

Kristin Ingulfsen

Cold showers

Jonathan Kavanaugh

The campus is nice and clean. Their Easter presentation is intriguing and entertaining!

Jack McCalath

It's run by Seventh Day Adventist. Good people but annoying

Michael Looby

I transferred in from Oakwood University and it was one of the best decisions i ever made. I had an opportunity to travel abroad in my first year to Romania (Ahhhhmazing). Then their PE classes are not just the traditional ie: basketball, tennis. They have caving, rock climbing, horsemanship and snowboarding! Ultimately it was the spiritual emphasis on campus that won me over. Oh and lots of photo opportunities. Not only did I grow academically but spiritually as well.