West Coast University-Ontario
About
West Coast University (WCU) is a private, for-profit university focused on healthcare degrees with campus locations in Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Ontario, California; Richardson, Texas; and Miami, Florida. David Pyle founded American Career College in 1979 under the name of American College of Optics. Originally the school focused only on optical dispensing. In May 1997, Pyle purchased West Coast University, which was chartered by the State of California in 1909, out of bankruptcy, and developed a program for the training of registered nurses.
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 and non-Pell students graduate at nearly identical rates — a notably small equity gap.
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.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 3,179 borrowers who entered repayment, 4 (0.1%) defaulted within three years — below 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 West Coast University-Ontario
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
- On campus2
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.
West Coast University-Ontario vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions West Coast University-Ontario 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectWest Coast University-Ontario | 39% | 88.1% | 2,671 | $49,752 | — |
AdventHealth University | 37% | 33.7% | 1,861 | $31,885 | — |
Allen College | — | — | 483 | — | — |
Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing | — | — | 539 | — | — |
Bellin College | 63% | 97.2% | 927 | $27,313 | — |
Blessing Rieman College of Nursing and Health Sciences | — | — | 193 | — | — |
Bryan College of Health Sciences | 63% | 67.4% | 765 | $25,884 | — |
Chamberlain University-Arizona | 50% | 90.9% | 693 | $37,002 | — |
Chamberlain University-Illinois | 42% | 82.6% | 32,944 | $26,933 | — |
Chamberlain University-Ohio | 29% | 87.5% | 257 | $32,074 | — |
Clarkson College | 36% | 78.2% | 1,121 | $15,928 | — |
Cox College | 100% | 100.0% | 724 | — | — |
D'Youville University | 67% | 81.4% | 2,556 | $19,585 | Doctoral/Professional |
Loma Linda University | — | — | 4,210 | — | R2 Research |
MGH Institute of Health Professions | — | — | 1,672 | — | — |
Mount Carmel College of Nursing | 54% | 84.3% | 670 | $12,939 | — |
Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing & Allied Health | 49% | 73.4% | 1,067 | $19,474 | — |
Regis College | 71% | 69.8% | 2,517 | $28,346 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
Saint Anthony College of Nursing | — | — | 263 | — | — |
Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing | — | — | 605 | — | — |
Samuel Merritt University | — | — | 1,926 | — | — |
| Peer group median | 50% | 82.6% | 927 | $27,123 |
West Coast University-Ontario Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The page for West Coast University-Ontario's Institutional Research section provides links to various university programs, admissions steps, tuition and financial aid resources, accreditation information, and campus details. It also lists telephone contact information and several useful links, such as annual reports, brochures, and session scheduling. The page lacks specific information about the office of institutional research itself, such as a mission statement or details about the office head.
Visit IR office pageReports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Frequently asked questions about West Coast University-Ontario
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about West Coast University-Ontario.
What is the acceptance rate at West Coast University-Ontario?
What is the graduation rate at West Coast University-Ontario?
How many students attend West Coast University-Ontario?
What is the average net price at West Coast University-Ontario?
What is the yield rate at West Coast University-Ontario?
Where is West Coast University-Ontario located?
Have a question this page can’t answer?
Ask Clema anything about West Coast University-Ontario and its peers — plain language in, cited answers out, in minutes instead of days.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card