2018 USD Fact Book

Academic Excellence An education at the University of San Diego is founded on an unwavering principle: the pursuit of academic excellence. A liberal arts education encourages students to develop critical-thinking skills, engage in collaborative inquiry and participate in a free exchange of complex ideas.

Admission to the University of San Diego is highly selective. The university received more than 14,739 applications that resulted in 1,210 new first-year students in Fall 2017. The Class of 2020 entered with an average GPA of 3.9 and an average SAT score of 1,263. 2017 marks the 27th anniversary of USD’s Creative Collaborations Undergraduate Research Conference as well as the sixth anniversary for the Office of Undergraduate Research, which was envisioned in the first phase of USD’s Strategic Plan/Direction in 2003. The mission of the Office of Undergraduate Research is to: 1. Enhance the educational experience of all undergraduates by supporting curricular, co- and extracurricular research opportunities; 2. Foster civic-minded leaders by supporting students and their mentors to engage in local and global community-based research opportunities; and 3. Equip students with the career skills that the 21st century workplace requires by supporting integrative, collaborative and interdisciplinary research. Underlying our mission is a commitment to equity and access to ensure that all students are able to participate in and benefit from research/ scholarly activities and scholarships/awards.

RANKINGS U.S. News &World Report ranks USD No. 90 in the nation, making USD the youngest independent university among the top 100. In 2017, Princeton Review ranked USD as the most beautiful campus in the nation and No. 18 for both the Top Green Colleges and Best Campus Food. The Sierra Club ranked USD in the top 10 Cool Schools for sustainability. Other U.S. News rankings include: The Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering is No.12 amongundergraduate programs; the School of Law’s Tax Program is ranked No. 11 and the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science’s master’s program in nursing is No. 28. The School of Leadership and Education Sciences is in the top 100 graduate schools of education. For a complete list of USD’s rankings, visit sandiego. edu/rankings.

www.sandiego.edu

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