Jessup University - Rocklin Campus Rocklin USA 2025

Jessup University began during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Dr. Eugene Sanderson, who had already started three other colleges, saw the need for a Bible college in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. He purchased two large houses on adjacent lots at Fifth and San Carlos Streets in San Jose, across from the San Jose Teachers College campus (now San Jose State University). Over the next several years, he improved the property and built a chapel for the faculty and student body yet to come.

In January 1939, Sanderson asked Jessup to carry on the vision. Bill and his wife, Carrie, moved from Visalia to San Jose to open the College. On September 20, 1939, classes at San Jose Bible College began with fourteen students, and the curriculum focused on biblical study and preparation for church vocations.

About the Rocklin Campus

The 125-acre property purchased in Rocklin included a striking, award-winning office and warehouse facility for the Herman Miller Corporation, initially designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry. Architect Russ Taylor’s renovation for the university won the Best Rebuild/ Renovation Award from the Sacramento Business Journal in March 2005 and has netted multiple “Gold Nugget” awards from the American Institute of Architecture for its breathtaking and inspiring design. The campus features bright colors, modern archetype and strong linear emphasis to foster learning, growth, creativity and community.

Jessup’s Rocklin campus has five living spaces, a chapel, two classroom areas, a library, a cafe and cafeteria, a gymnasium open to students, and an athletic facility. In the last few years the enhancements to campus have included the new cafeteria, athletic facility, and classrooms in 2012 and the new dormitory in 2016- all used to enhance the learning environment, student experience and spiritual enrichment.