Santa Clara University

STUDENT BODY

Santa Clara University has a student population of approximately 8,500, with about 4,800 undergraduate students and 3,700 graduate students. The undergraduate population has a male/female ratio of 45 percent to 55 percent, and about 35 percent of undergraduate students identify themselves as persons of color. About 55 percent of undergraduates are from California, with the others coming from throughout the United States and more than a dozen foreign countries. Seventy percent of undergraduate students receive some kind of financial aid—scholarships, grants, or loans.

More than half of the undergraduate population lives in University housing, with 95 percent of freshmen and 75 percent of sophomores living on campus. Students experience an average class size of 25, with one-third of classes having 20 or fewer students and only 3 percent classes having 50 or more students. The student to faculty ratio is 12 to 1 at the University.

The University’s commitment to learning is expressed in the fact that 92 percent of freshman students advance to the sophomore year, and the percentage of Santa Clara students who graduate is among the highest in the country. The four-year graduation rate for entering freshmen is about 80 percent, with a five-year graduation rate of 83 percent and a six-year graduation rate of 85 percent.