But July 1, if all goes according to plan, the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences will officially establish its corporate headquarters in San Diego County, where it has operated a campus for four years.

To hear school officials and others tell it, the decision to open a branch to offer graduate education in physical and occupational therapy in the region — temporarily in Rancho Bernardo and now on a gleaming San Marcos campus — was the proverbial no-brainer.

“The area needed a school,” said Tom Eggleton, a physical therapist in the region for 30 years and co-owner E & L Associates Physical Therapy, which operates four clinics in the county.