About
University of the West (UWest) is a private Buddhist university in Rosemead, California, United States. It was founded in 1990 by Hsing Yun, founder of the Taiwan-based Buddhist order Fo Guang Shan and Hsi Lai Temple, the North American order headquarters. The school offered its first class in spring of 1991.
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Pell recipients graduate at a higher rate than non-Pell students here — unusual and worth investigating.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 11 Title IV programs, 0 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 11 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing0 · 0.0%
- No Data11 · 100.0%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
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.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
WASC Senior College and University Commission
WASC Senior College and University Commission
Action history · 8
- Oct 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Oct 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Apr 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Dec 2022Grant Substantive Change: ProgramWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Nov 2022Grant Substantive Change: ProgramWASC Senior College and University Commission
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 13 students received $75K in Pell grants, alongside $454K in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
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.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 39 borrowers who entered repayment, 2 (5.1%) defaulted within three years — above the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* 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.
Academic programs at University of the West
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
University of the West vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions University of the West selected for federal comparison reporting.
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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectUniversity of the West | 38% | — | 138 | $11,137 | Baccalaureate |
| 44% | 96.0% | 424 | — | Baccalaureate | |
| — | — | 263 | — | Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs | |
| — | — | 213 | — | — | |
| 92% | 43.4% | 495 | $21,446 | Baccalaureate | |
| Peer group median | 44% | 69.7% | 263 | $16,292 |
Institutions like University of the West
Explore the federal data for institutions in University of the West's comparison group.
- BaccalaureateCalifornia
American Jewish University
Grad rate44%Admit rate96.0%Enrollment424Net price—View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Small ProgramsCalifornia
Antioch University-Santa Barbara
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment263Net price—View data - California
Claremont School of Theology
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment213Net price—View data - BaccalaureateCalifornia
Soka University of America
Grad rate92%Admit rate43.4%Enrollment495Net price$21,446View data
University of the West Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The page provides contact information for the Institutional Research office at the University of the West. It mentions data access compliant with FERPA and lists some key student satisfaction survey results. For general inquiries or access to data, Shruti Piduri can be contacted.
Visit IR office page- Shruti Piduri
Reports & documents (2)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
- DFR reportIPEDS Data Feedback Report 20242024nces.ed.gov
- Strategic planThe UWest 2025-2028 Strategic Plan2025The University of the West's 2025-2028 Strategic Plan outlines a visionary roadmap to enhance the university’s Buddhist identity and its stature in American higher education. It sets forth goals to establish UWest as a leading institution informed by Buddhist values, ensure financial growth through diverse revenue strategies, enhance student success, and modernize campus facilities. This comprehensive plan emphasizes the interconnectedness of strengthening UWest’s core pillars, thus achieving its mission of empowering students for purposeful lives.uwest.edu
Frequently asked questions about University of the West
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about University of the West.
What is the graduation rate at University of the West?
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Who runs Institutional Research at University of the West?
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