University of the Pacific

University of the Pacific offers relatively accessible admission, and its position on national ranking lists has steadily recovered in recent years. In the 2027 US News Best Colleges rankings, the institution placed at number 121, continuing an upward climb after reaching number 151 in 2023. Gaining entry is manageable for most qualified applicants, reflected in an overall acceptance rate of 71.3% in 2025, which is higher than 57% of its peer private research universities. However, the university encounters significant competition when trying to enroll admitted students. Its yield rate reached 13.8% in 2025, higher than 50% of peer schools, showing that only a modest fraction of admitted candidates chose to matriculate. For prospective students, these trends indicate that while securing an admission offer is well within reach, the school remains a competitive contender alongside regional alternatives rather than commanding overwhelming commitment from its admitted applicant pool.

Admissions at University of the Pacific are moderately competitive, with successful applicants demonstrating solid secondary school performance. For 2025, the institution reported a median SAT score of 1345, which was higher than 68% of peer schools in a comparison group of similar private research universities. Unofficial applicant cases collected by Forward Pathway, which are not official university data, indicate that accepted international students held a median unweighted high school grade point average of 3.69 and a median SAT score of 1280. Secondary school transcripts remain a central element in admissions evaluations, as most admitted undergraduates earned grades well above a 3.0. For students evaluating their admissions chances, demonstrating steady academic achievement in rigorous coursework and achieving standardized test results close to these institutional medians will provide a sound baseline for holistic review.

Academic offerings at University of the Pacific are moderately concentrated, with noticeable differences between undergraduate volume and graduate prestige. In 2025, the top three undergraduate majors accounted for 36.5% of all bachelor's degrees conferred. The largest undergraduate program was Biology/Biological Sciences, General, which produced 154 graduates, followed by business and computer science. However, the university's highest-ranked programs are concentrated at the graduate level rather than in these large undergraduate departments. According to US News rankings for 2026, the law school's trial advocacy program achieved a rank of 16, while graduate pharmacy placed at rank 62. Professional outcomes also show strong earning potential in specialized tracks. Based on 2023 post-graduation earnings data, bachelor's degree recipients in multi- or interdisciplinary studies reported the highest median pay one year after graduation at $106,201. For prospective applicants, Pacific provides solid pre-professional pipelines, but candidates should recognize that its nationally recognized strengths reside primarily in graduate professional divisions rather than standard undergraduate fields.

University of the Pacific maintains a diverse student body of nearly seven thousand scholars across undergraduate and advanced degree divisions, with graduate students forming the majority of the campus population. Asian students form the largest demographic cohort on campus, including 263 first-year undergraduates representing 34.3% of the freshman class, followed by Hispanic and Latino students. International representation is comparatively modest among undergraduates, accounting for only a small slice of entering freshmen. However, global enrollment expands significantly within advanced degree programs. At the graduate level, the university enrolled 542 international students, who comprised 14.7% of all graduate scholars. Across campus, female students represent a clear majority in both undergraduate and graduate divisions. This composition establishes a learning environment anchored by multicultural domestic diversity at the undergraduate level, complemented by an active international presence throughout post-baccalaureate departments.

The student body at University of the Pacific displays a distinct age split between its undergraduate and graduate divisions. In 2025, undergraduate enrollment was heavily composed of traditional college-aged students, with 43.3% aged 18 to 19 and 36.6% aged 20 to 21. Conversely, the graduate population encompasses an older demographic. Among graduate students in 2025, individuals aged 22 to 24 made up 35.9%, followed by those aged 25 to 29 at 31.8%. This demographic profile means undergraduates share the learning environment predominantly with peers who entered university straight from high school, while graduate academic settings are centered on young adults pursuing post-baccalaureate education.

International enrollment at University of the Pacific displays a distinct contrast between undergraduate study and graduate programs, with advanced degree tracks attracting the largest global cohort. In 2025, international students accounted for 7.2% of the undergraduate student body, a proportion that is higher than 90% of peer private research universities. While undergraduate overseas representation has remained relatively stable over the past decade, graduate international enrollment experienced substantial expansion. Degree conferral statistics highlight this graduate concentration: in 2025, international scholars received only a small fraction of bachelor's and doctoral credentials, but they earned 33.6% of all master's degrees awarded. Within master's cohorts, foreign students gravitate heavily toward professional STEM and data-driven disciplines. For example, international graduates accounted for 100% of master's recipients in Business Analytics, and they represented the overwhelming majority of master's degree earners in Computer Science and Data Science. Prospective international students in technical fields will therefore find substantial global peer cohorts at the master's level.

Applicants considering University of the Pacific have several strong academic alternatives within the Northern California region. The closest peer institution is University of California-Davis, a prominent public university ranked 34th in the 2027 US News rankings and located 45.3 kilometers away. Slightly further west, University of California-Berkeley holds the 20th position in the national university rankings at a distance of 52.2 kilometers. Students interested in private education can look to Santa Clara University, ranked 55th and situated 55.5 kilometers from Stockton, or Stanford University, a top-tier national research university ranked 5th, located 60.3 kilometers away. These surrounding options provide prospective applicants with a wide variety of public and private university settings across the greater Bay Area and Central Valley.

Campus safety records at the University of the Pacific indicate a noticeable decline in overall reported violations over the past decade. The crime rate per 1,000 students decreased from 8.5 in 2016 to 2 in 2025, reaching its lowest recorded mark over that span. Across the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, property offenses and interpersonal misconduct represented the primary safety concerns on campus. Burglary was the most frequently logged issue, totaling 17 incidents over those years. In addition, university records logged 12 incidents each of domestic violence and rape, alongside occasional motor vehicle thefts and drug-related arrests. For prospective students and families evaluating the Stockton campus, these numbers reflect meaningful downward trends in overall campus crime. At the same time, the presence of relationship violence and property thefts underscores the importance of staying attentive, securing residential living quarters, and making regular use of campus security resources.