Santa Clara University

SANTA CLARA, Calif., August 12, 2010 – Santa Clara University jumped to No. 115 in Forbes’ America’s Best Colleges list for 2010. In the previous year, SCU was ranked 150, and in 2008, the year of Forbes’ inaugural edition, it was 318.

Forbes reviews only 9 percent of the 6,600 accredited postsecondary institutions in the U.S. The magazine says “appearing on our list at all is an indication that a school meets a high standard.”

Students choose SCU because of the small class sizes, the individual attention they receive from professors, and the successful careers they can pursue at some of the top companies in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco. As Forbes indicates in its coverage of SCU, 78 percent of students graduate within four years, which is significantly higher than the national average of 53 percent.

Santa Clara’s reputation is based upon its excellent academic programs in engineering, business, and arts and sciences. Its academics emphasize educating the whole person by requiring students to take courses that focus on critical thinking, communication, arts and humanities, global cultures, and ethics. All students must also engage in civic issues and social justice by interacting with communities.

Forbes’ list of 610 undergraduate institutions is based on the quality of the education they provide, the experiences of the students, and how much they achieve. Other factors include indicators of post-graduate employment success, the estimated average of four year student loan debt, and the likelihood of graduation from college within four years.

SCU also has a long list of notable alumni, including:

• Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ’79
• CIA Director Leon Panetta ’60, J.D. '63
• Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns author Khaled Hosseini '88
• Attorney General and former California Governor Jerry Brown ’59
• Former Mayor of Los Angeles Richard Riordan ’52
• Olympic gold and silver medalist in women’s soccer Brandi Chastain ’91
• NBA Player Phoenix Suns’ Guard Steve Nash ’96
• MLB Player St. Louis Cardinals Left Field/Right Field Randy Winn ’96

Click here to see SCU’s profile, according to Forbes.

Click here to learn more about Forbes’ America’s Best Colleges rankings and methodology.

About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 8,600 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, theology, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.