Student Body

Santa Clara University has a student population of 9,015, with 5,438 undergraduate students and 3,296 graduate students. The undergraduate population has a male-to-female ratio of 50-to-50, and about 57 percent of undergraduate students identify themselves as persons of color. About 62 percent of undergraduates are from California, with the others coming from throughout the United States and 44 countries. Seventy-seven percent of undergraduate students receive financial aid–based scholarships, grants, or loans. More than half (53 percent) of the undergraduate population live in University housing, with 90 percent of first-year students and 70 percent of sophomores living on campus. Students experience an average class size of 23, with 42 percent of classes having fewer than 20 students, and only 1.6 percent of classes having 50 or more students. The student-to-faculty ratio is 12-to-1.

The University’s commitment to learning is expressed in the fact that 96.2 percent of first-year 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 first-year students is 78 percent, with a five-year graduation rate of 84 percent and a six-year graduation rate of 85.2 percent.