University of San Francisco

“Private Jesuit university in San Francisco founded in 1855 with five schools and colleges.”

The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Catholic Jesuit university founded in 1855 — the oldest university in San Francisco and one of the 27 Jesuit institutions in the United States. Its 55-acre Hilltop campus sits in the geographic center of the city, with sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge from Lone Mountain and direct MUNI/BART access to downtown San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the East Bay tech corridor. USF's Jesuit identity shapes a distinctive academic culture: small classes, a strong service-learning requirement, an emphasis on social justice and ethics, and a global outlook that shows up in its programs in international studies, public health, and international business. For international students, USF is one of the most internationally-oriented private universities on the West Coast — roughly 11% of students are international (around 977 across undergrad and graduate, including ~491 undergraduates), drawn from China, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Canada, and 100+ other countries. The university's location in San Francisco — a global magnet for tech, biotech, finance, hospitality, and the arts — gives F-1 students one of the strongest US labor-market backdrops for CPT internships and post-graduation OPT employment. STEM-designated programs in computer science, data science, biotechnology, and analytics are eligible for the 24-month STEM OPT extension. Academically, USF offers more than 80 undergraduate majors across the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Management, and the School of Nursing and Health Professions, plus law (separate JD program) and graduate programs in education, biotech, and data science. Nursing is consistently among USF's top-paying career outcomes (avg ~$117,000 starting), and computer science graduates report ~$107,000 median first salaries. Test-optional admissions, automatic merit-scholarship review (no separate application), partial need-based aid for some internationals, and required first-year on-campus housing in some of San Francisco's best-located residence halls together make USF an unusually accessible private-Jesuit option for international applicants who want a true big-city experience without enrolling at a 40,000-student public flagship.