I ended up at University of San Diego as a result of a glitch of sorts…On my list of schools with a small graduation rate gap is University of California San Diego, but somehow I didn’t realize that I’d connected with University of San Diego’s registration website and signed on for the tour. I plugged the coordinates into my GPS driving computer and there I was! This highlights for me how tricky negotiating the college visit/tour process is. Luckily, I made it to the University of California San Diego’s campus for a later information session (I did forgo the 90 minute walking tour once I got to UC San Diego).
I have to say, the campus has the MOST amazing views I’ve ever seen on a college campus. Up on a hill, you can see for miles (San Diego beaches or mountains every way you look).
University of San Diego is a Roman Catholic University that is a liberal arts college. The school has graduate law, business, and nursing school associated with it as well. There are nearly 5,000 undergraduates and just about 1,500 graduate students on campus. The school is clear that it provides a “values based” education, students take two religion courses amongst the general education requirements. Students also seem to take advantage of the opportunity to participate in and formulate service-learning activities (students also study abroad and go on missions in ways that are connected with their college education). Recently USD was named one of several “Colleges with a Conscience” by Princeton Review.
Areas of study include Environmental Studies, International Relations, Marine Science, Political Science and Mechanical Engineering among others. The school is small and has a 15:1 Student to Faculty ratio and the school emphasizes that classes are taught by professors versus graduate students. Students might be admitted to the Honors Program where they take two upper-level courses each semester and finish with a major piece of research. Diversity-wise the ethnic breakdown is repprted as Asian students10%, African American 2%, Latino 15%, Native American 1%, White63% and Unreported 6%.
Tuition and fees are just over $36,000. Financial Aid is available and there are a number of merit scholarships available that focus on academic excellence and support underrepresented groups.