As Anthony Lee stood in front of more than 70 university leaders and board members, the Westcliff University president and CEO took a deep breath before telling his senior leaders to slow down.
In previous years, the Irvine-based private institution focused so much on expansion—acquiring Western State College of Law, rolling out an AI learning partner, and recently opening a campus in Toronto—that it was now time to reflect and remind them of the importance of the student experience.
“If you want to scale successfully, you don’t start with systems, you start with people,” Lee recalls telling his senior leaders.
Lee, who has led Westcliff since 2012, described that September retreat in San Clemente as a defining moment of the year. He said it was a chance to slow down, take stock and speak candidly about what worked and what didn’t.
“We really were able to talk about all the things we had done so far this year,” Lee, who received the Business Journal’s Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award last year, told the Business Journal during a recent interview. “We really had to make sure that we didn’t lose sight of what was important for us, which is our mission to educate and empower students.”
International Expansion
Lee said 2025 was a major year for Westcliff, with multiple initiatives including the launch of a nursing program, expansion into Canada and the opening of a new early learning venture, the Westcliff Early Learning Academy.
He said those moves were years in the making and that the university worked to avoid growing “too fast” by investing in people, processes and technology ahead of demand.
Internationally, Lee said Westcliff’s approach in Toronto reinforced the importance of building locally rather than exporting a one-size-fits-all model.
He said the university collaborated with local government, employers and workforce stakeholders to shape programs aligned with regional needs, including a master’s program in information systems and technology with a cybersecurity focus.
He also said Westcliff hired local leadership to run the campus—a decision he described as essential to the expansion’s early success.
Early Learning
Lee called the Westcliff Early Learning Academy in Irvine the most personally meaningful initiative he has undertaken. His own children, ages 6, 4 and 1, attend the school, which he described as a blend of Montessori, Reggio Emilia-inspired elements and nature-based learning.
Lee also highlighted a dual-language Vietnamese option, which he said reflects his family heritage and fills a gap for families seeking Vietnamese language instruction.
“It’s a very unique curriculum, and my kids and our students are really enjoying it so far,” he said.
Thriving Programs
Lee also discussed the continued integration of Western State College of Law, which Westcliff acquired in 2021.
He described the process as centered on “unity,” transparency and support for faculty and staff during change.
Lee said the law school is “thriving,” citing what he described as the highest bar pass rates in the school’s history last February, surpassing all other ABA-approved law schools in the state for that session.
Looking ahead, Lee said he is energized by Westcliff’s nursing program—which he said connects directly to community needs—and by the university’s efforts to adapt to AI.
He said Westcliff has developed an AI-enabled learning tool called the Socratic Metric and has piloted it for roughly a year and a half, with rollout to more than 1,000 students and hundreds of faculty, alongside what he called necessary guardrails for ethical use.
As Westcliff grows, Lee said the scale of its student body has changed how he views responsibility.
He said the university now represents students from more than 130 countries, and that the expanding footprint has raised the stakes for doing growth “the right way,” while never forgetting the student experience.
“Growth only matters if quality rises with it, and students feel the difference.”
