Pacific Islands University

Pacific Islands University is the last university on the Toplist's list of the best universities in Guam. Liebenzell Mission and the evangelical churches it planted in Micronesia established Pacific Islands University in 1976 as the Micronesian Institute of Biblical Studies (MIBS) on one of the islands in the heart of Micronesia to prepare Micronesian citizens for church leadership. It quickly became clear that this purpose was too narrow, and that access to its services by the typical Micronesian was too difficult. While Micronesians respected the biblical training provided by MIBS, they also desired to know how to apply biblical knowledge for successful living and for leading and influencing all parts of their society toward long-term solutions, not just the church.

As a result, in 1991, under the leadership of its first president, Dr. Roland Rauchholz, the school established a new campus on the island of Guam, a more western and accessible location, and MIBS was renamed Pacific Islands Bible College (PIBC). The previous MIBS campus on the island of Tol was renamed a branch campus. PIBC began offering Biblical Studies certificate and diploma programs, followed by Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees.

The Board of Trustees voted in February 2009 to change the school's name to Pacific Islands University (PIU) to better reflect the growing emphasis on Christian liberal arts education and to recognize the graduate level seminary program that began in the autumn of 2008. Since then, the AA and BA Liberal Studies degrees have been added, as well as minors in Bible Translation, Christian Ministry, and Education for both the BA Liberal Studies and the BA Biblical Studies.

Students: 273

Location: Mangilao, Guam

Website: www.piu.edu