West Coast University-Los Angeles

West Coast University (WCU) is a private, for-profit university focused on healthcare degrees, campus locations include Los Angeles, Anaheim and Ontario, California, Dallas, Texas, and Miami, Florida. It is not related to a school of the same name operating out of Panama. David Pyle founded American Career College in 1979 under the name of American College of Optics. Originally the school focused only on optical dispensing. In May 1997, Pyle purchased West Coast University, which was chartered by the State of California in 1909, out of bankruptcy, and developed a program for the training of registered nurses

West Coast University, in Los Angeles, was spun off from Occidental College by faculty who wanted more secular curricula. At the time, Occidental College was a Presbyterian Seminary. It was chartered by the State of California in 1909 as a small ophthalmology school. Over the next 50 years, its program offerings varied from aeronautical engineering, applied sciences and mathematics to locomotive diesel engine repairs. As it developed, West Coast University became one of the forerunners in offering bachelor's degree programs designed to meet the needs of working adults to aid their careers. These programs were offered in non-traditional settings. For example, in 1953, the University began offering evening-only programs based on a schedule of six two-month academic terms, especially for servicemen taking advantage of the GI bill. The success of this approach led the University to expand and diversify its programs to include offerings in the areas of business and management, computer science, industrial technology, and pre-health science. Associate degrees in Science as well as master's degree programs were introduced in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1981, the University reorganized into three distinct colleges: the College of Business and Management, the College of Engineering, and the College of Letters and Sciences. The University was led by the late Dr. Victor Elconin, whose direction was instrumental in developing the University’s solid reputation in the business and academic community.