by our College Data Analytics TeamSanta Clara University is a private not-for-profit institution in Santa Clara, California enrolling 6,552 undergraduates. It accepts 48% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 88%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #10 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 1%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Santa Clara University ranks #10 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 1%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
Santa Clara University was awarded 687 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked SCU as #10 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation!
SCU also holds the #3 spot on the Best Colleges in California ranking.
See all of the rankings for Santa Clara University.
Santa Clara University has an acceptance rate of 48%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for SCU.
About 24% of students accepted to SCU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 670 and 730. Math scores were between 680 and 760.
SCU received ACT scores from 10% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 31 and 33.
Learn more about Santa Clara University admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at SCU is an impressive 11 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Santa Clara University is 72%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 94% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Santa Clara University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At SCU the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 88%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Santa Clara University.
During the most recent academic year, there were 6,552 undergraduates at SCU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Santa Clara University.
The overall average net price of SCU is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $22,985 | $19,154 | $26,531 | $37,219 | $60,678 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of SCU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At SCU, approximately 37% of students took out student loans averaging $11,927 a year. That adds up to $47,708 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.0%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Santa Clara University.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Santa Clara University with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $109,183 in their early years. That’s great news for Santa Clara University students since it is 122% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Santa Clara University make the most money.
Santa Clara University is a private not-for-profit institution found in Santa Clara, California. Santa Clara is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Santa Clara University.
Get in touch with Santa Clara University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053 |
| Phone: | 4085544000 |
| Website: | www.scu.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/SantaClaraUniversity |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/SantaClaraUniv |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 25 majors graduated from Santa Clara University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 2,980 | NA |
| Computer Engineering | 372 | $112,970 |
| Finance & Financial Management | 226 | $68,821 |
| Law | 200 | $74,729 |
| Clinical & Counseling Psychology | 168 | $57,675 |
| Business Administration & Management | 154 | $125,643 |
| Marketing | 134 | $60,745 |
| Computer Information Systems | 123 | NA |
| Mathematics & Computer Science | 121 | $87,146 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 115 | $53,040 |
190 students took at least one online class at Santa Clara University.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at Santa Clara University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to SCU? Match them up using College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
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