University of San Diego to Welcome Students to Campus for the Fall Semester

The University of San Diego (USD) is welcoming more than 8,800 undergraduate, graduate and law students to campus for the 2023-2024 academic year. Of those, approximately 1,600 are new first-year and transfer students. This weekend, more than 1,100 of them will move into our residence halls and call USD home.

The incoming class is one of the largest, most academically talented and diverse classes in the university’s history. Some highlights include:

• The average grade point average is a 4.1
• For the 8th year in a row, this class will have a higher percentage of students of color than the previous class
• A little more than 50% of the class identifies as a student of color, with more than 27% identifying as Hispanic
• 22% are the first in their family to attend college
• 28% are fluent in a language other than English
• 43% identify as Catholic, and there are 14 different faith traditions represented
• The first-year class comes from 43 states, 25 countries and 3 U.S. territories 

“Every fall, our campus awakens as a diverse array of students from all over the world embark on a fresh academic journey here at the University of San Diego. I am excited to welcome our new class of changemakers who embody our vision, mission and values and make USD such an exemplary university,” said USD President James T. Harris III, DEd.

Undergraduate and graduate classes begin on Wednesday, August 30. The School of Law began classes on Monday, August 21.

About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.