2010 USD Fact Book

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Academi cs

Academics Admission to USD, which consistently ranks among the top schools in the United States, is highly selective. USD received more than 11,000 applications for approximately 1,100 undergraduate openings in the fall of 2009. The Class of 2013 entered with a GPA of 3.84 and an average SAT score of 1,207. In late 2009, U.S. News & World Report ranked USD as one of the top 110 universities in the nation. Additionally, the publication ranked the School of Law as #61 among the best law schools, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science among the top 50 graduate schools of nursing and the School of Leadership and Education Sciences in the top 100 of graduate schools of education. The Princeton Review ranked USD at #6 in the category of Most Beautiful Campus, and BusinessWeek ranked the School of Business at #29 in Undergraduate Business Programs. In 2003, USD joined the elite company of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. The university was granted membership to the Mortar Board national honor society in 2000. Applicants are expected to present a well-balanced secondary school program of college preparatory courses in English, foreign language, mathematics, laboratory science, history and social science. Both the content of the academic program and the quality of performance are considered. While SAT/ACT results are used to broaden USD’s understanding of the applicant’s potential, the university also is interested in the person behind the academic history. Participation in extracurricular activities at school, in the community or through church is taken into consideration when making admission decisions. Financial Aid More than 66 percent of undergraduates enrolled in the fall of 2008 received some form of financial aid, totaling more than $96.5 million. Funds are made available in the form of scholarships, grants, part-time employment and loans. More information is available at the Office of Financial Aid or its Web site, www.sandiego.edu/financial_aid.