Colleges & Universities
The San Francisco Bay Area is home to one of the best educated workforces in the world. More than two-thirds of Bay Area residents have training beyond high school and above 43% have attained a four-year college degree or higher. In addition, 17% of City residents hold graduate degrees, topping the rankings of major cities in the United States. More than 60 colleges and universities comprise the Bay Area's world-class educational and research facilities.
The National Research Council (NRC) rates the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and Stanford University as two of the top-ranked graduate schools in the country. NRC also ranks programs in the biological and biomedical sciences at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) among the nation's best. UC scientists have founded one in three biotechnology companies in California; with California serving as the home to two of the world’s three largest Biotech Corporations (Amgen and Gilead Sciences).
UCSF is one of the nation's top health, science and educational institutions and a world leader in advancing new techniques to diagnose and treat disease. UCSF's School of Medicine and School of Nursing maintain their high national rankings in the annual survey of the best graduate schools published by US News & World Report. The 2011 publication ranks UCSF’s School of Medicine #4 in research and #5 in patient care as well as placing in the top-10 for seven of eight specialty medical program rankings. The School of Nursing ranked #4 in the nation while placing in the top 10 for seven of the eight nursing school specialty programs. Additionally, the Biological Sciences graduate program at UCSF placed seventh nationally stabilizing that acceptance that the Bay Area as at innovative cusp of Biotechnology and other science related industries.
The downloads to the right provide up-to-date information about Bay Area Colleges & Universities.
Other Notable Colleges & Universities in San Francisco
UC Hastings College of Law, founded in 1878, was the first law department of the University of California; currently Hastings is one of the top-rated law school programs in the United States.
The top ranked U.S. executive-MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School now has an extension campus in San Francisco. The Wharton School-SF offers top-quality management education to West Coast executives and business leaders, as well as, access to our innovative programs, unrivaled thought leadership, and talented pool of students and alumni.
The Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA program brings together two extraordinary faculties in two of the world’s great business centers—New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area—to create a single unique program that can help you acquire the requisite skills and vision needed for the next stage of success. The BCEMBA represents the only partnership between two nationally ranked top 10 business schools.
The University of San Francisco, founded in 1855, continues its mission of training young people for positions of leadership in the community. USF was the first college in the nation to offer a Computer Sciences degree and is home to the prominent McLaren School of Business; additionally the USF School of Law has a top-tier J.D. program.
San Francisco State University, which celebrated its centennial in 1999, has built a national reputation for its commitment to social justice and for addressing real-world issues through practical, applied research and scholarly work. The SFSU College of Business offers an executive MBA program at their downtown campus in the heart of Union Square.
Golden Gate University, which traces its origins to the founding of the YMCA in 1853, is an independent, multi-campus university that offers certificate and degree programs throughout California, Nevada, Washington and abroad. GGU offers both an MBA and JD program as well as the fast-tracked JD/MBA. Alliant University continues to serve the area by providing educational programs in psychology. Four campuses throughout California have offered highly regarded programs for more than 25 years.
Alliant University has an affiliation with Presidio Graduate School which offers executive education, an MBA program, and an MPA program with a direct emphasis on sustainable management through an integrated approach resulting in knowledge, skills, and confident leadership.
City College of San Francisco, a public, two-year community college, offers credit and non-credit classes to 80,000 full and part-time students at eight campuses and additional outreach locations throughout the City.
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts is the largest regionally accredited, independent school of art and design in the Western United States.
Established in 1929, the Academy of Art College is now the largest fully accredited private school of art and design in the nation. Increasingly, academy students are winning national art competitions and are recruited by industry leaders nationwide.