LABI College, the oldest Pentecostal Hispanic Bible school in the nation, is commemorating its centennial during 2026.

Although many higher education institutions around the country are contracting or even closing, the future looks bright for LABI, located in La Puente, California, 20 miles east of Los Angeles.

Pentecostal missionary Alice Luce founded the school in 1926 as Berean Bible Institute in San Diego. It moved to La Puente in 1955.

Marty L. Harris has served as president of the Assemblies of God (AG) college for 12 years. Under his leadership, LABI has undergone a lengthy process to obtain Association for Bible Higher Education national accreditation and California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education approval.

LABI can now receive Title IV financial aid, which gives students access to federal Pell grants.

Strategic investments and individual donor gifts have funded improvements across campus, including dormitory and cafeteria renovations, new air conditioning systems, and terrace and patio installations.

Private funds make ministry degrees in Spanish more affordable and accessible for Hispanic students.

Harris, who is bilingual, helped write more than a dozen successful grant applications of $1 million or more from the Lilly Endowment, about half for LABI. The grants have also benefited other AG entities, including Vanguard University, Nelson University, the Southern Pacific District, Adult & Teen Challenge of Texas, and the national Office of Hispanic Relations.

According to Harris, LABI offers the lowest cost of any accredited private Christian school in California.

“We don’t want kids, especially new pastors, to graduate with debt,” Harris says. “We discourage students from taking out loans.”

While only 200 students attend classes on the main campus, the school’s total enrollment is 1,900. Approximately 1,400 students participate through 90 church extension sites. Another 300 attend the affiliated Latin American Theological Seminary, which AG Hispanic leader Jesse Miranda founded in 1977.

Recent growth has occurred mostly in online and extension site Spanish-language accredited programs. LABI is the only AG school in the U.S. to offer an associate’s or bachelor’s degree program in Spanish, now accessible in 19 states.

Transfer agreements with other schools allow graduates to continue their education after LABI. Options include Vanguard University’s Spanish-language master’s program in nearby Costa Mesa, and a Spanish doctoral program at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri.

Approximately half of LABI graduates become AG pastors. The school also offers accredited bachelor’s degrees in business and psychology, both with a Christian emphasis.

“Of course we’re Bible-ministry focused, but to keep students we need to provide them with more options that make sense for them and us as well,” Harris says.

Although LABI is a relatively small school, it is filling a large need by providing meaningful education for Hispanic students and preparing them for Kingdom work.

When Harris arrived as president, females comprised two-thirds of the student body. Yet none served in leadership at the school.

“I realized if you want to promote women in leadership, it’s important to have women in leadership,” Harris says.

Today, women represent nearly two-thirds of the LABI leadership team, filling roles as chief operations officer, chief financial officer, academic dean, registrar, and campus pastor.

In 2017, LABI launched the Grace Morales Women’s Leadership Institute to facilitate leadership development, ministry promotion, educational opportunity, and social justice.

“Women in the Assemblies of God will make a huge impact as the numbers grow,” Harris says.

LABI is located on a six-acre campus in the residential and industrial Avocado Heights neighborhood. The school is adjacent to the AG Southern Pacific District office, one of the Fellowship’s 14 U.S. Hispanic districts.

The district’s superintendent, William H. Rodriguez, is a 1996 LABI graduate. Soon after completing his degree, Rodriguez planted Iglesia Pentecostal Esmirna de las Asambleas De Dios in Highland Park, northeast of Los Angeles, where he is now pastor emeritus.

Rodriguez has remained connected to LABI as an alumnus, serving at various times as an on-site and extension program professor. For the past decade, Rodriguez has been a member of the board of trustees.

“The theological and ministry training I received at LABI provided the biblical foundation for what it means to be a servant leader,” says Rodriguez, who earned a Master of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary and is pursuing a Ph.D. in organizational leadership. “The principles I learned to guide me through the decision-making process carry over to today.”

Rodriguez says LABI has long been the school of choice for area Assemblies of God Hispanic pastors, including three of the four current Southern Pacific District executives.

“LABI has a high rate of graduates going into ministry and the mission field,” Rodriguez says. “The school has a long history with great results for the Kingdom — not only in the U.S., but for those who go back as leaders in Latin America. LABI is an institution that has blessed the Hispanic community in the U.S., in Latin America, and the world.”

Rodriguez says the district and school have a close relationship that benefits both parties. Many LABI graduates, especially those coming through extension programs, end up as church support staff or congregational lay leaders. An estimated 60% of Southern Pacific District pastors are bivocational, according to Rodriguez.

Paul R. Alexander, chair of the AG Alliance for Higher Education, commends LABI for taking the arduous journey of moving beyond a Bible college while achieving accreditation. He notes that this has heightened the school’s influence as a primary Hispanic-serving institution.

“Accreditation opens a lot of doors,” says Alexander, president of Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, North Dakota. “It makes their program that much more credible and gives students opportunities to receive financial aid.”