Pacific States University

What Pacific States University does

Pacific States University (PSU) is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) higher-education institution headquartered at 3530 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1110, Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1928 as the Radio Institute of California, the school has operated continuously for ~100 years under 25 successive presidents and currently enrolls students into a compact STEM-and-business portfolio: a Bachelor of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science, and Master of Science in Computer Science or Information Systems, plus a non-degree Accounting Certificate Program under its Continuing Education Center. PSU is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC), licensed by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE), and federally authorized to enroll F-1 non-immigrant students, which underpins an explicit international-recruitment posture supported by CPT/OPT/STEM-OPT services and the Buffinger & Evans Research Institute (BERI) for J1 research hosting.

The institution operates with a lean headcount of 11–50 employees and is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Ms. Jaeun Yoo, who also chairs the Konkuk University Foundation; several additional trustees hold senior positions at Konkuk University in Seoul and at its Glocal Campus, and the sitting President (Dr. Matt Shin, 25th, since 2022) is also a Konkuk-affiliated faculty member, indicating a closely held parent-affiliation governance structure. Revenue mechanics are tuition- and fee-driven (BBA, MBA, BS, MS, ACP) supplemented by ancillary international and continuing-education streams; no pricing, enrollment, or revenue figures are publicly disclosed. R&D and differentiation efforts are anchored in the in-house PSU AI & Robotics Excellence Lab and BERI, with a Cyber Learning Center and Student Publication platform rounding out a small but identifiable research/learning ecosystem.

The business model is fundamentally a single-campus, tuition-dependent private non-profit university reliant on accreditation maintenance, international-student visa eligibility, and the goodwill of a tightly connected Korean parent-affiliated governance body. There are no disclosed funding rounds, equity investors, acquisitions, or material commercial partnerships; expansion signals are limited to program additions (Accounting Certificate Program, AI & Robotics Lab) and continued internationalization rather than geographic or vertical scaling. Overall, PSU is a small, mature, accredited private non-profit with stable but opaque operating economics.

Name

Pacific States University

Legal name

Pacific States University

Website

https://psuca.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1928

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

company_description_short

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Sciences & Public Policy Research Universities (EDAHABAD)

Keywords

• Higher education
• STEM education
• Business administration
• Computer science
• Certificate programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Core offering

Pacific States University is a private, non-profit higher education institution that delivers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business administration and computer science (BBA, MBA, BS, MS), as well as a post-baccalaureate Accounting Certificate Program. Its offerings are STEM- and research-oriented, targeted at domestic and F-1 international students enrolled at its Los Angeles campus and administered through a Populi-based academic portal.

Product overview

No product/service information could be extracted because the underlying source material provided no source-attributable content for Pacific States University.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Buffinger & Evans Research Institute (BERI): Research institute at Pacific States University named after the founder (William G. Buffinger) and an early president (Harry W. Evans), housing J1 research activities.
• PSU AI & Robotics Excellence Lab
• PSU Student Publication
• Cyber Learning Center
• Accounting Certificate Program (ACP)
• Continuing Education Center

Products and services

• Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pacific Oaks College: Small private nonprofit college in Pasadena serving similar Southern California working-adult and international student segments; comparable in size, private-nonprofit structure, and degree-program breadth.
• Platt College: Small private career college system with multiple Los Angeles campuses offering business and technology programs; directly comparable in scale, LA market focus, and career-oriented STEM/business curriculum.
• Woodbury University: Small private nonprofit university in Burbank focused on professional and applied programs; similar in size, private-nonprofit status, and LA-basin positioning to PSU.
• Westcliff University: Private, for-profit university based in Southern California with a comparable mix of business and tech-oriented degree programs and a similar small-to-mid scale; competes for the same international and career-focused student base in the LA metro.
• Concorde Career College: Private career college with a strong California footprint offering career-focused programs in business and technology-related fields; comparable in size, market, and reliance on accreditation-driven, career-oriented enrollment.
• Alliant International University: Private nonprofit university with California campuses (including Los Angeles/Alhambra) offering graduate and professional programs; comparable in private-nonprofit structure, LA presence, and reliance on international enrollment.
• Phillips Graduate University: Small private graduate university in the greater Los Angeles area offering professional master's and doctoral programs; comparable in scale, private-nonprofit model, and LA market positioning to PSU.
• The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (Los Angeles): Private nonprofit university with a Los Angeles campus offering specialized graduate professional programs; comparable as a small, private, LA-anchored institution dependent on professional-degree enrollment.

Broad incumbents

• National University: Larger private nonprofit university headquartered in San Diego with a strong Southern California presence and a portfolio of business, computing, and professional programs that overlap PSU's core offerings, targeting similar working-adult and international learners.

Emerging players

• University of the People: Tuition-free online nonprofit university serving a globally distributed, career-focused student body; adjacent model to PSU's STEM/business emphasis and its international learner base, though delivered entirely online.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/psu-studentspublication
• Facebookfacebook.com/117292703506
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pacific-states-university

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pacific States University