Hi, I’m a mom of high schoolers in a Portland suburb. Applications over the last 10 years from our well-regarded public school to Pacific overlap with 8 other Oregon schools (UofO, OSU, Linfield, Willamette, George Fox, PSU, George Fox, and Lewis&Clark) and 2 Washington schools (UPS and Gonzaga). Its acceptance rate is in the middle of the distribution in the overlaps (which goes from L&C’s low of 48% to high of 78% at UPS), but its average accepted gpa, sat, and act are all the lowest. I’m guessing that maybe means the school has holistic admissions and is really looking for a student who wants to go there?
Pacific University was one of the first two schools my daughter and I toured (Reed being the other) nearly two years ago. She will be attending Pacific U as a freshman this fall because of the following.
Beautiful campus, new freshman dorm with free laundry (eco-friendly and focused on sustainability. There is a 2 year requirement for living on campus.
Small class sizes; 15-20 on average.
Over 50 majors, many with graduate programs - particularly in the medical fields.
Near Portland, Oregon but not IN Portland. Portland State University is right downtown and had been a consideration, but the large urban sprawl in the center of the city wasn't for my daughter who is coming from a small town. Forest Grove where Pacific University is located is a quiet community with little crime. A good place to rest between trips into the city using public transportation.
All the staff that either I or my daughter have had contact with including about 6 individuals from Admissions, Financial Aid, and Disability Services regarding housing, have been polite, honest, easy to work with, helpful and most of all - responsive to questions and answered them completely and in a timely way. (This was HUGE for us!) When emailing I would get a response within the hour and the answers would be complete. Phone calls were easy too, with a helpful, friendly person on the other end of the line. This made us feel good about the place right off the bat.
The financial aid package first offered was very good, but I noted that my daughter was eligible for their highest merit award which had not been given initially. When I asked about it they said they'd look into it. A few days later they called to let her know they'd like to offer her the highest award for freshman - the Founder's Award (22K per year, renewable; good for 4 years if 2.0 GPA is maintained) in addition to other awards. This made Pacific much more affordable for us (even at almost 54K per year; tuition, room and board) than any of the other colleges we were considering.
Our neighbors sent their son there. He met his wife there, and they both graduated - having nothing but good things to say about the connections they had with their professors and the education they received. We've also heard from other parents who currently have students attending, about how much their kids love being at Pacific.
Their communication after you agree to go there is excellent! No junk emails - just clear instructions on registering for classes; we'll be going up to have my daughter meet with her advisor in July, the housing lottery, etc... without a lot of nonsense. Two of the colleges my D received acceptances from immediately started flooding her inbox with junk, and even after saying 'no thank you', they continue to do it.
When looking at the crime stats for campus, they are very low. As are the stats for Forest Grove, where the campus is located. Noise complaints, thefts, underage drinking violations, a few fights, but not much else. As a former cop, that makes me happy to know that while the usual stuff is there, no sex or violent crime trends.
They have a 4-year graduation guarantee. If your student comes to Pacific with a declared major and wants to complete that course of study, they will put them on the right track immediately to get them through in 4 years - provided the student does the work.
There are more… but you get the gist. It’s a good school with a large endowment and generous financial aid. The average GPA of the incoming class is 3.47 and it’s very diverse; many of the students are coming from Hawaii where Pacific has a satellite office. The largest college luau in the nation takes place in April or May on the Pacific campus!
Their acceptance rate is high, but their retention rate is fairly low. I’m not sure why that is, other than the list price of going there is very high. ($41,032 in tuition costs alone this year). In our case or EFC is over 11K, however generous grants and merit awards in combination with work study and $3500 in a subsidized loan (we decided to forgo the unsubsidized offering) for a total of 39K (all renewable each year…) in aid. **Pacific Lutheran University - in Tacoma, WA - was slightly higher in their award, but we liked Pacific University better overall.
The bottom line - Pacific University cares about their students and they work for them. You are a consumer, choosing the school that is the best fit for you, and they know it. They aren’t trying to be elite, but in my opinion their class offerings, financial awards and service set them apart, which should put them at the top of anyone’s list for consideration.