How University of the Pacific ranks

University of the Pacific, California's first university, offers the academic rigor of a private university, the resources and amenities of a large school and the personal attention of a small community of scholars. 

Pacific’s mission is to provide a superior, student-centered learning experience integrating liberal arts and professional education and preparing individuals for lasting achievement and responsible leadership in their careers and communities.

# 1 in career earnings

For low-income students, Georgetown University Ctr. on Education & the Workforce

Top Rankings 

  • #1 – Career earnings, among U.S. colleges and universities that have the highest percentage of Pell Grant recipients (Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce)
  • #7 – Ethnic Diversity in California (tied with UC Berkeley and University of Southern California) (U.S. News & World Report, 2023)
  • #11 – Best Private University in the West (Wall Street Journal/College Pulse, 2024)
  • #56 - Best Value (U.S. News & World Report, 2023)
  • #82 – Social Mobility (U.S. News & World Report, 2023)
  • Top 100 – Student Experience (Wall Street Journal/College Pulse, 2024)
  • Top 10 – Sustainable food and dining practices (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, 2022)
  • 4.5 our of 5 stars – Best Colleges in America (Money Magazine 2023)

  • #3 – Biology degree program (Grad Reports, 2020)
  • #7 – Civil Engineering degree program (Grad Reports, 2020)
  • #87 – Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (U.S. News & World Report, 2022)
  • #70 – Best for undergraduate business schools (Poets & Quants, 2021)

Pacific McGeorge School of Law

U.S. News & World Report, 2022

  • #141 – Full-time Law Schools
  • #8 – Trial Advocacy
  • #21 – Legal Writing
  • #38 – Part-Time Law Program
  • #43 – International Law
  • #48 – Dispute Resolution
  • #57 – Environmental Law
  • #109 – Intellectual Property Law
  • #117 – Business and Corporate Law
  • #127 – Criminal Law
  • #131 – Constitutional Law
  • #135 – Clinical Training 
  • #141 – Tax Law 
  • #143 – Health Care Law 

The Princeton Review, 2021

  • Best Law Schools
     

preLaw Magazine, 2022

  • #11 – Best Schools for Government
  • #12  – Best Schools for Asians
  • #32  – Best Schools for Hispanics
  • #12  – Best Schools for Asians
  • Top 25 most innovative law schools in the United States

 

 

Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 2021

  • #2 - Graduating Asian American students with doctoral degrees in dentistry

American Dental Association's Survey of Dental Education (2018-19)

  • #4 (tied) – Dental Admission Test (DAT) - Perceptual Ability
  • #5 (tied) – Dental Admission Test (DAT) - Academic Average
  • #12 – Total Applications Received by U.S. Dental Schools

 

School of Health Sciences

U.S. News & World Report, 2022

  • #55 (tie) – Audiology graduate program
  • #102 – Physical Therapy graduate program 

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 2021

  • #3 – Graduating Asian American students with doctoral degrees in health professions and related programs

 

Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy

U.S. News & World Report, 2022

  • #59 (tie) – Pharmacy graduate program

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 2021

  • #3 – Graduating Asian American students with doctoral degrees in pharmaceutical sciences and administration

Fast Facts

By Campus

  
Sacramento 1,136
San Francisco 757
Stockton 4,862
Total 6,755

 

Universitywide

  
Undergraduate 3,297
Graduate 1,884
Professional 1,577
Total 6,755

Enrollment as of Fall 2023

Undergrad Demographics

  
Female 54.8%
Male 44.8%
None Reported 0.4%
American Indian/Alaskan Native 0.2%
Asian 33.9%
Black, non-Hispanic 3.1%
Hispanic/Latino 26.7%
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander 0.5%
White, non-Hispanic 16.1%
Multi-ethnic 5.3%
International 7.6%

 

Origin

  
California 82.5%
Out of State 8.6%
International 7.6%
Unknown 1.2%

 

Demographics as of Fall 2023

 

Admissions

  
Average SAT 1282
Average High School GPA 3.63

 

Admissions for Fall 2023

Degrees Conferred (2022–23)

  
Bachelor's 899
Master's 421
Doctoral 81
Professional 498

 

Degrees conferred as of Oct. 18, 2023

Faculty & Staff 

  
Full-time and part-time instructional faculty  829
Full-time and part-time non-instructional staff  1,120


As of fall 2022

Three Campuses

University of the Pacific has campuses in three cities located in Northern California’s most dynamic region.

graduation ceremony
Alumni Success

At six months after graduation, 91% of Class of 2020 graduates who responded to a survey were:

  • Employed or accepted to graduate or professional school, completing a post-graduate internship or fellowship, or working in the military or for a service organization.
  • And 93% of 2019 graduates who responded indicated that their current position is related to their career objective.
     

Community Impact

Sacramento

  • Employees (faculty and staff) 54
  • Total economic impact† $37M
  • Total employment impact† 304 jobs
     

San Francisco

  • Employees (faculty and staff) 256 
  • Total economic impact† $133M
  • Total employment impact† 727 jobs

† As of 10/01/19

Stockton

  • Employees (faculty and staff) 1,508
  • Total economic impact* $301M
  • Total employment impact* 2,417 jobs

* As of 9/18/23

Medicare clinic student
Public Service

Pacific has a long tradition of public service with students, faculty and staff making an impact in our communities through classroom and volunteer experiences, including:
 
Pharmacy: Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy students assisted 811 beneficiaries at a virtual Medicare Part D clinic in 2020. Also, 196 first-year PharmD students received immunization training and certification, readying them to assist in the administration of the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine.

Law Clinics: Since March 2020, McGeorge School of law students have served an estimated 100 elder and health law clients, 40 bankruptcy clients, 122 immigration clients and 83 charged with federal crimes. They helped mediate 16 civil rights disputes between prisons and prison inmates and worked on nine pieces of legislation.

Dental clinics: Dugoni School of Dentistry students and faculty served more than 17,200 patients and managed more than 77,330 patient visits across San Francisco and Union City clinics over 2019-2020.

Experiential Learning

The majority of Pacific’s students benefit from countless experiential opportunities such as working in Pacific’s clinics, teaching music in the community and working while studying abroad.

Currently, 75% of Pacific’s undergraduate students are enrolled in an experiential learning course. One outstanding example is found in the School of Engineering and Computer Science, where for more than 50 years, students have gained hands-on experience at corporations and public agencies through the Cooperative Education (Co-op) program.

steel bridge engineering students

Notable Alumni


Dave Brubeck ’42 — Musician and composer
Pete Carroll ’73, ’78 — NFL Super Bowl-winning coach, Seattle Seahawks
Janet Leigh ’47 — Actress
Alex Spanos ’48 — Real estate developer and NFL owner, San Diego Chargers
Connie Callahan ’74 — Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Scott Boras ’77, ’82 — Baseball sports agent
Arif Alvi ’84 — President of Pakistan
Jose Hernandez ’85 — Former NASA astronaut
Jie Du ’90, ’93 — Pharmaceutical entrepreneur
Chris Isaak ’80 — Musician and actor
Ted B. Olson ’62 — Attorney and 42nd U.S. solicitor general
Irene Roberts ’06 — Mezzo-soprano with the Deutsche Opera Berlin
Tom Flores ’58 — Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, NFL Super Bowl-winning coach (Raiders) and player
George Moscone ’53 — California state senator and 37th mayor of San Francisco
Matt de la Pena ’96 — Newbery Medal-winning author
Julia Engel Berolzheimer ’12 — Founder of Gal Meets Glam
Brad Schumacher ’97, ’05 — Olympian: 1996 swimming (two-time gold medalist) and 2000 water polo
Hannah Ludwig ’14 — Award-winning mezzo-soprano