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 college campuses in the country. Its 1,839 students (57% women; 43% men) represent 45 states and 26 foreign countries. Almost half of the student body is from outside California. Student ethnicity: Latino, 15.6%; Asian-American, 13.5%; African-American, 6.6%; Native American, 1.0%.  Since 1990, Occidental students have won two Rhodes scholarships, seven Marshall scholarships, eight Truman scholarships, 19 Fulbright fellowships, 16 Coro fellowships, 31 Goldwater Science scholarships, 19 National Science Foundation graduate fellowships, and eight Beckman Scholarships. 

Admissions

Some 5,307 students applied for admission to the Class of 2010; 2,200 were admitted, for an admit rate of 41%.  Applications to Occidental have risen 185% over the past nine years, from 1,828 in 1997. Of the students admitted to the Class of 2010, 90% ranked in the top 20% of their high school class, with a median SAT score of 1980.

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 148 full-time faculty members, 94% 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 11 student-governed residence halls house 70 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 30 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 19 intercollegiate sports (nine for men, nine for women, one coed) 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 2006-07 costs for attending Occidental College:

Financial Aid

About 74% 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 $27,311 per student during the 2004-05 academic year.

Alumni

27,807 living alumni.
32,667 alumni of record.

Gift Support

(Year ending June 30, 2006)

Financial Facts

(July 1, 2004 - June 30, 2005)