Samuel Merritt University

Private · CA

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationCA · West

SettingUrban

Undergrads718

Student:faculty5:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate—

6-yr grad rate—

Drop-out rate—

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition—

Out-of-state tuition—

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity76%

Gender diversity82.9%

International0.4%

Identity—

Overview

Samuel Merritt University is a health-sciences university in Oakland, California, historically tied to a major Northern California hospital system and built almost entirely around clinical training. Nursing forms the bulk of the undergraduate population, while podiatric medicine, physician assistant studies, and physical and occupational therapy are offered mostly at the graduate level.

Academics

Clinical placements begin early and run throughout the nursing curriculum, drawing on the university's hospital-system ties across the Bay Area. Programs are structured for direct entry into clinical practice rather than broad liberal-arts exploration, and cohorts tend to be small with close faculty contact.

After graduation

Graduates move directly into Bay Area hospital systems and clinics, helped by the clinical relationships built into every program; the university's hospital lineage gives its nursing and allied-health graduates strong regional name recognition among Northern California employers.

Worth knowing

Because most of Samuel Merritt's offerings are graduate or professional programs, prospective undergraduates should know the bachelor's-level options are concentrated almost entirely in nursing rather than spread across the full range of health professions the university offers overall.

samuelmerritt.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate—

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot reported

Rec letters—

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Applying