Pacific University

Overview

Rankings

• #8 Best Nursing Colleges in Oregon
• #8 Best Education Colleges in Oregon
• #10 Best Online Colleges in Oregon
• #11 Best Biology Colleges in Oregon
• #13 Best Business Colleges in Oregon
• #14 Best Colleges in Oregon
• #14 Best Psychology Colleges in Oregon
• #15 Best Bachelor's Programs in Oregon

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Pacific University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Pacific University, located in Forest Grove, Oregon, admits most of the students who apply; the acceptance rate is roughly 90%. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,090. The graduation rate is roughly 66%.

Acceptance Rate

90%

Retention Rate

79%

SAT Average

1090

ACT Midpoint

23

SAT Range

900–1240

ACT Range

18–29

Full-Time Faculty

68%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$9,129

Student–Faculty Ratio

9:1

Diversity Index

0.75

First-Gen Students

29%

Applicants

2,759

Admitted

2,546

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2025-26

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Pacific University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 14% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

14%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

3%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

3%

of enrolled freshmen

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Pacific University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Pacific University is $56,374, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $35,273. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $23,318 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $23,223 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$56,374

Out-of-State

$56,374

Avg Net Price

$35,273

Median Debt

$23,223

Pell Grant Rate

28%

Federal Loan Rate

81%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Pacific University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Pacific University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Pacific University earn a median of $60,583, roughly in line with the national average for college graduates.

6 Years After Entry

$46,936

8 Years

$54,158

10 Years

$60,583

Debt-to-Earnings

0.38x

Earning > $25K

64%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Pacific University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Pacific University is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.36%, well above the typical college. About 4.3% of students come from families in the bottom income quintile. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 31.4% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $92,700, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.36%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

31.4%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

4.3%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$125,947

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Pacific University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Pacific University. Its economic connectedness score is 1.64, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (-0.03), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 8% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.64

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

-0.03

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

8.1%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Federal Grants

$9,291,446

Investment Income

$-677,942

Top Programs

The fields Pacific University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Health Professions 17% $128,213 early-career
• Business & Marketing 13% $46,521 early-career
• Education 10% $58,055 early-career
• Psychology 8% $40,390 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 8% $29,542 early-career
• Social Sciences 6% $44,210 early-career
• Visual & Performing Arts 5%
• English & Literature 2% $29,935 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.