University of San Francisco

With the motto ‘Change the World from Here’, the University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Catholic university with a long and distinguished history in the sciences and liberal arts and strives to educate leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world.

Its scenic 55-acre campus is situated on a hill next to the famous Golden Gate Park, in downtown San Francisco, North California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Founded by Jesuits in the mid nineteenth century, the University of San Francisco was the city’s first university and the second oldest university in California. When the inaugural college, known as St. Ignatius Academy, opened its doors in the autumn of 1855, it was to a cohort of only three students. By 1858, that number has grown to 65.

Today the university welcomes students of every faith and no faith and its approach to learning continues to be defined by Jesuit tradition. Its unique style of education is inspired by ‘Cura personalis’, which means ‘care of the whole person’, where intellect is only one element of a student’s development.

USF students are encouraged to extend their education beyond the classroom via internships and ‘service learning’ where they participate in some of the city’s social and community projects. Its five schools offer 51 undergraduate majors and 44 minors, and over 30% pursue business-related degrees.

With its location close to Silicon Valley, USF also emphasizes a global outlook and entrepreneurial ethos. The university at large is committed to bettering the community, including through partnerships with local organizations and work through the school's research centers and institutes.

Its alumni include two Pulitzer prize winners, a former president of Peru, one of the founders of Starbucks coffee, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Company, president and CEO of Intel and many others.

The magazine Forbes has ranked USF within the top 25 most entrepreneurial universities in the United States. U.S. News National University Rankings 2016 placed the university the 107th. 

The most popular majors by the number of registered students are registered nursing, psychology, finance, business/marketing, health professions, social sciences, communications/journalism, business administration and management.

USF was ranked as tied for the 107th in the National University category in 2017 by U.S. News & World Report, with the graduate nursing school ranked tied for the 129th in the nation, and the law school tied for the 138th.