Quick Facts
Location
The College is located in the Eagle Rock section of Northeast Los Angeles, midway between Pasadena and Glendale. Pasadena, including the popular retail, restaurant, and movie theater Old Town section, is 10 minutes from campus. Likewise, Glendale is less than a five-minute drive from campus by either surface streets or freeway.
Enrollment
Occidental is regularly ranked as one of the most diverse liberal art college campuses in the country. Its 1,989 students (56% women; 44% men) represent 44 states and 23 foreign countries. Half of the student body is from outside California. Student ethnicity: Latino, 13.3%; Asian-American, 15.9%; African-American, 5.6%; Native American, 1.2%. Since 1990, Occidental students have won two Rhodes scholarships, seven Marshall scholarships, eight Truman scholarships, 39 Fulbright fellowships, 18 Coro fellowships, 34 Goldwater Science scholarships, 22 National Science Foundation graduate fellowships, and 10 Beckman Scholarships.
Admissions
Some 6,013 students applied for admission to the Class of 2013; 2,582 were admitted, for an admit rate of 43%. Applications to Occidental have risen 228% since 1997, when 1,828 students applied. Of the students admitted to the Class of 2013, 90% ranked in the top quarter of their high school class, with a median SAT score of 1960.
Faculty
Occidental's student-faculty ratio is 10 to 1. Although faculty members regard teaching as their primary function, all are engaged in research or creative work. Of the College's 163 full-time faculty members, 93% above the rank of instructor possess a Ph.D. or terminal professional degree. Faculty ethnicity: 30% minority.
The Campus
Designed by renowned architect Myron Hunt and noted for its beauty, the heart of the 120-acre campus is the oak-studded Quadrangle and the College's original Beaux Arts academic buildings. Some 13 student-governed residence halls house 77 percent of the student body. The central gathering point on campus is the Johnson Student Center and its state-of-the-art dining hall. Take a campus tour.
Curriculum
The foundation of Occidental's liberal arts education is embodied in the Core Program, which promotes the acquisition and refinement of such essential skills as clear and effective writing, logical argument, critical reading, and an appreciation of the evolution of world cultures. The first-year Cultural Studies courses, which explore human culture from a variety of disciplinary and cultural perspectives, are the centerpiece of the Core Program. Students choose from 29 majors, nine of which are interdisciplinary. Each major culminates in a comprehensive examination or project. Course work is supplemented by opportunities for independent study, for original research in the sciences and humanities and for study in scores of foreign countries. Occidental has exchange or joint degree programs with Caltech, Art Center College of Design, Keck Graduate Institute and Columbia University School of Law. Occidental also prepares students for a California teaching credential and awards the Master of Arts in Teaching degree in nine disciplines.
Community-Based Learning
Occidental’s long history of mutually beneficial interaction with Los Angeles dates back to the mid-1960s, when the College opened its Community Literacy Center and one of the country’s first Upward Bound programs. Today, almost half of Occidental’s students participate in some kind of community project through the College’s Center for Community-Based Learning. These efforts include partnerships with local elementary, middle, and high schools in northeast Los Angeles, programs - many of them student-organized and run - awarded a silver medal from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in 2001.
Extracurricular Opportunities
Occidental College is one of the founders of intercollegiate athletics in Southern California and is a part of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) at the NCAA Division III level. Students participate in 21 intercollegiate sports (10 for men, 11 for women) and numerous club sports. Recreational and intramural activities are also available in a variety of sports. Performing and creative arts programs include glee club, orchestra, jazz band, drama, dance, film, painting, drawing, printmaking, graphics and sculpture.
Information Technology
Occidental College possesses one of the finest libraries of any institution its size. Holdings include almost 900,000 books, videos, audio recordings and microforms. The Library subscribes to more than 1,230 magazines, journals and newspapers, supplemented by an increasing number of online indexes, databases, and full-text resources. The library also provides rapid access to over five million titles from a consortium of western colleges and universities, and offers access to materials from other libraries nationwide. Many of these materials are available for borrowing through our exceptional document delivery service.
As one of the first small colleges to connect to the Internet and to have network connections in each dorm room, Occidental was also one of the first to go wireless. The College has made extensive use of the web in teaching, particularly in the sciences and mathematics.
Annual Costs
Estimated 2010-11 costs for attending Occidental College:
| Tuition | $39,870 |
| Room and board | $11,360 |
| Required fees | $1,033 |
| Books and supplies | $1.116 |
| Personal Expenses | $1,427 |
| TOTAL | $55,655 |
Financial Aid
About 75% of Occidental's students receive some form of assistance, including grants-in-aid, loans and student employment. The average amount awarded from all sources, including the College, was $29,180 per student during the 2008-09 academic year.
Alumni
27,807 living alumni.
32,667 alumni of record.
Gift Support
(Year ending June 30, 2009)
Source |
Amount |
| Alumni | $3,887,070 |
| Parents | $542,955 |
| Friends | $357,847 |
| Faculty/Staff | $29,688 |
| Bequests | $1.096.582 |
| Trusts | $2,430,393 |
| Corporations | $384,924 |
| Foundations | $3,398.694 |
| Other | $165,215 |
| TOTAL | $12,293,368 |
Financial Facts
(July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009)
| Market Value of Endowment (invested) Funds |
$273.8 million |
| Annual Budget | $81.9 million |
