“A private Oregon university with a national reputation in health professions and optometry.”
Pacific University is a small, private nonprofit university in Forest Grove, Oregon, about 23 miles west of Portland. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, Pacific is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the Pacific Northwest, and it has evolved into a multi-campus university of roughly 3,300 students best known nationally for its College of Optometry, its College of Health Professions, and its tight-knit undergraduate residential experience on the historic Forest Grove campus. Pacific holds Carnegie classification as a Doctoral Professional University and has been named Oregon's top private national university by US News. Academically, Pacific offers about 60 undergraduate majors and minors across the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Health Professions (spanning eight schools including Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant Studies, Audiology, Dental Health Science, Healthcare Administration & Leadership, Pharmacy, and Graduate Psychology), the College of Optometry, and the School of Graduate Psychology. The undergraduate program runs on a semester calendar with the option of half-semester block courses and a Winter Term for focused 4-credit and 2-credit classes, giving students flexibility to pursue internships, research, and study-away opportunities. Pre-health preparation is especially strong because undergraduates share faculty, mentors, and clinical spaces with the graduate health professions. The Forest Grove campus is an intimate, walkable residential campus with small classes (student-to-faculty ratio around 11:1), Division III athletics in the Northwest Conference, and more than 40 student organizations. The Hillsboro Health Professions Campus, a short shuttle ride away, hosts the clinical programs and public-facing teaching clinics. For international students, Pacific offers direct access to a personal admissions counselor, merit scholarships ranging from about $20,000 to $30,000 per year, a generous rolling/early-action admissions timeline, and a predictable small-college pathway into one of the strongest health-professions ecosystems on the West Coast.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceThe deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$53,000 – $56,000
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
Liberal arts core of the Forest Grove campus, offering most undergraduate majors and minors with small classes and close faculty mentorship.
Eight-school health-professions college including Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant Studies, Audiology, Dental Health Science, Healthcare Administration, Pharmacy, and Graduate Psychology — all team-taught on the Hillsboro campus.
One of 21 doctor-of-optometry schools in North America, with a 4-year OD program and strong residency placement rates.
Undergraduate business programs with an emphasis on entrepreneurship, finance, and marketing; small cohorts and Portland-area employer access.
Teacher preparation and educational leadership programs that place educators across Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.
4 years
A nationally respected OD program with clinical rotations, an in-house teaching clinic, and a strong track record placing graduates into residency and private-practice roles.
4 years
A direct-pathway undergraduate program with explicit advising and preferred consideration for Pacific's College of Optometry.
4 years
A popular feeder into Pacific's DPT, OT, and athletic-training graduate programs, with access to Hillsboro clinical facilities.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $56,374
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
