Private (for-profit)

United States University

San Diego, California·Private for-profit, 4-year or above·Far West·usuniversity.edu
Total enrollment
2,454
peer median 939
Avg net price
$21,557
-$10k vs peer
Use this data
Ask Clema

About

United States University (USU) is a private for-profit university in San Diego, California. It offers graduate and undergraduate degrees in health sciences, business, and nursing as well as California Teaching Credentials. It is owned by the Aspen Group, Inc., a publicly held, for-profit post-secondary education company headquartered in New York.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

Of 18 Title IV programs, 2 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 16 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
18
Passing
2
11.1% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

18programs
  • Passing2 · 11.1%
  • No Data16 · 88.9%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
0
Safe
2
No data
16

Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.

Earnings premium gap

Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.

2
Educational Administration and Supervision
Master's Degree · Education
+33.7%
$62,007 vs $46,391
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+138.2%
$143,181 vs $60,112

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

2
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
35%
$50,396 debt · $143,181 earn
Educational Administration and Supervision
Master's Degree · Education
33%
$20,500 debt · $62,007 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

WASC Senior College and University Commission

Accredited since 2009Next review Jun 2030
PreaccreditedInstitutional accreditor

WASC Senior College and University Commission

Accredited since 2005

Programmatic accreditations · 2

Action history · 9

  1. Jan 2023Grant Substantive Change: Program
    WASC Senior College and University Commission
  2. Jul 2022Grant Substantive Change: Program
    WASC Senior College and University Commission
  3. Jun 2022Renewal of Accreditation
    WASC Senior College and University Commission
  4. Nov 2021Grant Substantive Change: Degree
    WASC Senior College and University Commission
  5. Feb 2019Removal of Monitoring Status
    WASC Senior College and University Commission

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$21,557
$30–48k
$48–75k
$75–110k
$110k+

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price (private)
$21,557
-$10,302vs peer median $31,859
Federal loans
16.0%
In-state tuition
$6,600
Out-of-state
$6,600

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

In AY 2024–25, 32 students received $149K in Pell grants, alongside $7.4M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
32
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$149K
$149,308 total
Direct Loans
$7.4M
475 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

0k
20
0k
21
0k
22
0k
23
0k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$75K
24 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$102K
22 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$6.8M
404 loan awards
Grad PLUS$422K
25 loan awards

Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Of 77 borrowers who entered repayment, 1 (1.2%) defaulted within three years below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
1.2%
-1.1pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
77
Defaulted
1
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
10.6%
2017
7.7%
2018
11.7%
2019
1.2%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at United States

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs18
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

894 total completions
01Health Professions
83793.6%
02Education
283.1%
03Business
283.1%
04Liberal Arts
10.1%
05Computer Sciences
00.0%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

Fall total
2,454
12-mo unduplicated
3,431
Undergraduate
245
Graduate
3,186

Gender split

Men
19%647
Women
81%2,784

Race / ethnicity composition

White
43.7%
Hispanic
33.5%
Black
9.6%
Asian
8.4%
Unknown
3.6%
Two or more
1.2%

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
0.00
0 offenses · 2,790 students

3-year trend

0.002 yrs ago0.391 yr ago0.00Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
1
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
1
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
0

Criminal offenses by type

No criminal offenses reported.

By location

0total

    VAWA offenses

    0
    Domestic violence
    0
    Dating violence
    0
    Stalking
    0 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

    Hate crimes by bias

    No hate crimes reported.

    Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

    CategoryArrestsReferrals
    Weapons00
    Drugs00
    Liquor00

    Residence-hall fires

    No residence-hall fires reported.

    Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

    Student-faculty ratio

    Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

    Student-to-faculty
    15.0:1
    Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
    8

    United States vs Peer comparison

    The peer institutions United States selected for federal comparison reporting.

    GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
    This institutionPeer median

    A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.

    Carnegie
    SubjectUnited States University
    2,454$21,557
    50%50.0%473
    82%100.0%1,222$32,603
    27%3,511
    9%560$39,885
    841
    50%90.9%693$37,002
    0%80.0%751
    33%90.9%821$29,539
    50%91.4%1,940$31,471
    42%82.6%32,944$26,933
    100%85.7%629$26,870
    33%100.0%1,226$36,438
    25%83.9%2,270$32,247
    100%90.0%557
    811
    23%5,585
    84%84.3%916$28,535
    26%6,036$29,378
    736$46,892
    833
    47%669$30,255
    1,686
    1,903
    18%752$24,280
    17%433$20,494
    4,370
    548
    31%92.3%2,673$51,992
    33%100.0%961$38,218
    39%88.1%2,671$49,752
    60%95.3%4,586$36,836
    Peer group median33%90.5%939$31,859

    Institutions like United States

    Explore the federal data for institutions in United States's comparison group.

    United States Institutional Research office

    The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.

    Team
    2 members
    • David Noriega
      Executive Director, Institutional Research and Regulatory Affairs
    • Dr. Heather Frederick
      Executive Director, Accreditation and Assessment

    Reports & documents (2)

    Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.

    Frequently asked questions about United States University

    Quick answers to the questions most often asked about United States.

    How many students attend United States University?

    United States University reports a total enrollment of 2,454 students per the latest IPEDS.

    What is the average net price at United States University?

    The average net price at United States University is $21,557 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

    Where is United States University located?

    United States University is located in San Diego, California 92108.

    Have a question this page can’t answer?

    Ask Clema anything about United States University and its peers — plain language in, cited answers out, in minutes instead of days.

    Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card