Our History

California Pacific University was founded in 1976 by N. Charles Dalton, Ph.D. The school’s mandate, to provide a solid and complete business education 100% off campus, was born out of Dr. Dalton’s personal and frustrating experience as a young husband and father earning a living by day in corporate America and struggling to earn a degree at night and on weekends in order to advance his career in retailing.

Dr. Dalton wanted to make sure that others didn’t have to go through the grueling workload and inflexible hours he endured, losing precious and irretrievable family time in the process. Dr. Dalton believed that people learn better when they aren’t subjected to unnecessary and excessive stress. He believed they should be able to schedule their own time, and work at their own pace. He believed that it should be possible for the student to earn a business degree whether they were stationed on a military base far from home, assigned overseas by their company, recovering from an injury, or on maternity leave. Moreover, he witnessed too many instances in which his friends and colleagues, from all walks of life, were effectively locked out of obtaining a higher degree because of a then, arcane educational system, the access to which was rigid and discriminatory.

The result of Dr. Dalton’s pioneering efforts has been decades of helping countless men and women gain deep business insights, further their careers, and still have a quality private life through a self-paced, albeit comprehensive, curriculum of study. Not a bad legacy! Thank you Dr. Dalton, for being a helping hand to so many!