When Diana Xiaona Ding visited the United States in 2013 as a government-sponsored visiting scholar, she already had years of experience working in international education for China’s Ministry of Education. Becoming a lawyer wasn’t part of her original career plan – until an open house at the University of West Los Angeles (UWLA) changed her trajectory. “That experience sparked a curiosity that stayed with me,” she says. “Someone at the open house also suggested that my academic and professional background might translate well into a legal career.”
Three years later, in 2016, Ding decided to take that leap of faith and signed up for the Juris Doctor (JD) program at UWLA’s School of Law.
Then, in [year], she would return, but this time as a School of Business student.
“Legal issues do not exist in isolation,” says Ding, who pursued the MS in Leadership, Management, and Technology program. “They arise within organizations, commercial relationships, competing priorities, and decisions about risk. To advise a business well, a lawyer also needs to understand how organizations make decisions, how leaders evaluate uncertainty.”
Founded in 1966, UWLA was built with the mission of providing high-quality, affordable evening and weekend education for working adults. Source: University of West Los Angeles
Ding’s journey led her from China’s Ministry of Education to UWLA and to the founding of a cross-border law firm in the US. Your own path might look very different.
While every student’s journey is unique, thousands share the same destination: UWLA. Founded with only six students in 1966, the university is designed specifically to meet the needs of working adults, whether they seek a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree at its School of Law or School of Business. For 60 years, the university has changed the lives of thousands of local and international students by providing programs that stand out for their affordability, quality, and results. Recently, the LA Times ranked UWLA’s MBA in its top 25 again.
Here, full-time professionals as well as modern and traditional students can pursue full or part-time study at lower tuition costs compared to many other schools in California. Scholarships are available, such as the UWLA Presidential Scholarship and Partnership Scholarships — though far from the only options. Class sizes are small but led by faculty members with outsized industry experience. As for results, stories like Ding’s say it all.
Small class sizes and individualized support are hallmarks of UWLA. Source: University of West Los Angeles
Major force in education, in practice
UWLA professors are the kind who will make time during their weekends to provide individual guidance and hold review sessions before major exams. “What I appreciated most was that they did not simply teach us legal rules from a textbook. They brought their own professional experience into the classroom and helped us understand how lawyers actually approach problems in practice,” says Ding.
In courses like Civil Procedure, she learned how procedure, timing, jurisdiction, discovery, and litigation fundamentally shape case outcomes. Business Organizations and Evidence offered her insight into the way corporations and other business entities were structured and governed.
Each course trained her to think and act like a lawyer and businessperson. “I experienced a similar spirit in the business school,” she says, having graduated from the School of Law in 2019 and the School of Business in 2023.
Ding’s law degree empowered her to analyze legal problems with precision, but it was courses such as New Organizational Development and Innovation Protocol during her business degree which taught her about the organization, strategy, and people behind those problems. “[UWLA] strengthened how I think, broadened how I lead and build,” she says.
Look around campus and you’ll quickly notice that professors aren’t the only ones pushing students to succeed. Small, discussion-driven classes bring together students from all walks of life who support one another. Ding describes UWLA as a “family” where every student — no matter their national, cultural, socioeconomic, or professional background – is known and valued.
Ding would know. During her academic journey, she had to navigate “many practical matters.” It wasn’t easy but she “consistently found the staff approachable, responsive, and willing” to help her work through any issue. “That support made a meaningful difference because I never felt I was navigating the university system on my own,” she says.
Today, Ding is the founder of a cross-border law practice, Sino-US Bridge Legal, where she serves businesses and community members navigating commercial disputes, business relationships, and legal challenges involving the US and China. Here, the goal isn’t just to solve legal problems. It’s about exercising her combined expertise within law and business to help clients understand the bigger picture, make sound decisions, and proceed with greater clarity.
Her journey with UWLA isn’t quite over either.
Ding is now teaching as an adjunct faculty member at the School of Law. “Education should not stop with the person who receives it,” she says. “Its value grows when knowledge, opportunity, and experience are carried forward and used to help others advance.”
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