The largest Catholic school on the West Coast, Loyola Marymount University has over 9,000 students spread out amongst its undergraduate, graduate and law school programs. Loyola was founded in 1911 and has a 142-acre campus in Los Angeles, which includes 19 dormitories that house roughly a third of its students. There are 56 majors available to undergraduate students as well as 38 master's degree options. Students can also participate in 140 groups and clubs or join one the school's 15 fraternities and sororities.
Santa Clara University is a Jesuit institution founded in 1851 and located in Silicon Valley. Describing itself as "dedicated to faith-inspired values," Santa Clara offers bachelor's, master's, doctorate and law degrees in science, arts, business and engineering. Santa Clara operates on a quarter semester (though law students run on a semester schedule) and also offers NCAA Division I athletics.
Founded by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael in 1890, the Dominican University of California is located in Marin County, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. The more than 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students at Dominican are spread out across 60 academic programs in the arts and sciences as well as nursing, business and education. The school a student-teacher ratio of 11-to-1 and a diverse student population.
The University of San Francisco offers over 100 bachelor's and master's degree programs through its five schools, with an average class size of 28 students. Founded by Jesuits in 1855, USF welcomes learners of "all faiths, believers and non-believers alike," though Catholic values are a major part of campus life and promoted through public service activities, diversity and other initiatives. Students at USF have a wide variety of academic paths available to them, including science, law, nursing, business and liberal arts.