Western University of Health Sciences
Western University of Health Sciences is located in Pomona, California. It is a private not-for-profit, 4-year or above institution.
From Wikipedia: Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) is a private medical university in Pomona, California. With an enrollment of 3,724 students (2022–23), WesternU offers more than twenty academic programs in multiple colleges. It also operates an additional campus in Lebanon, Oregon. Under the banner of WesternU Health, the university operates a variety of patient care facilities in California and Oregon. The Pomona and Lebanon (Oregon) campuses both include a medical center, dental center, eye care institute, pharmacy, and travel health center. WesternU-Pomona also is home to the Pet Health Center, which provides veterinary services. Dental services are offered at the Rancho Mirage campus, while a Los Angeles campus provides optometry services. Several nonprofit organizations are based at the WesternU Pomona campus, including the Harris Family Center for Disability and Health Policy. The Center for Oral Health, moved from the Bay area to the WesternU Pomona campus in 2012. In 2015, the Southern California Medical Museum moved to the Pomona campus. Founded in 1977, the first program at WesternU was its medical school, the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. In 2003, the College of Veterinary Medicine opened, and in 2009 the colleges of dental medicine, optometry, and podiatric medicine opened. In 2011, the university opened an additional campus in Lebanon, Oregon, the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific - Northwest (COMP-Northwest). In 2015, the university’s founding president, Philip Pumerantz, retired. All of the programs at WesternU have professional accreditation and the university is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Notes
These are items that bear looking into more closely.
- There are apparently no tenure stream faculty. This can indicate a risk to academic freedom and thus educational quality, as faculty members may be able to lose their positions because of their speech, publications, or research findings.
Overview of institution
This, and the rest of the page, use info from the most recent year available, generally 2023.
Institution kind: Special Focus Four-Year: Medical Schools & Centers
Undergrad program: Not Classified (Exclusively Graduate Programs)
Graduate program: Postbaccalaureate: Other-dominant, with Arts & Sciences
Enrollment profile: Exclusively graduate (see more details below)
Average net price for undergrads on financial aid: Unknown .
Actual price for your family: Go here to see what your family may be asked to pay. It can be MUCH lower than the average price but also higher for some.
Size and setting: Exclusively graduate/professional
In state percentage: Unknown of first year students come from California
In US percentage: Unknown of first year students come from the US
Student to tenure-stream faculty ratio: Unknown (undergrads to tenure-stream faculty) [Tenure explained]
Student to faculty ratio: Unknown (undergrads to all faculty)
Degrees offered: Master’s degree, Post master’s certificate, Doctor’s degree: professional practice
Schedule: Semester
Institution provides on campus housing: No
Freshmen required to live on campus: Not applicable
Advanced placement (AP) credits used: Yes
Disabilities: Not applicable of undergrads are registered as having disabilities.
Map
Comparisons
The sections below show this institution compared with others. The ones listed are ones it has identified as peers, who consider themselves peers, and/or who the federal government considers peers. If a comparison school has the same value as the focal school, its cell is grayed out. Arrows show where there is a signficant trend over time for a school. You can swipe across the table to see more of it; the focal school column is always visible.
- Western University of Health Sciences lists these schools as ones to compare itself within federal IPEDS data, and they do the same back: Samuel Merritt University, Midwestern University-Glendale, Midwestern University-Downers Grove, Des Moines University-Osteopathic Medical Center
- Western University of Health Sciences compares itself to these institutions, but not vice versa: University of Southern California, Tufts University, University of California-Davis, Auburn University, University of San Diego, Chapman University, Creighton University, Touro University, Nova Southeastern University, Mount Saint Mary’s University, Oregon Health & Science University, Loma Linda University, Azusa Pacific University, University of California-San Francisco, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Marshall B Ketchum University
- These institutions compare themselves to Western University of Health Sciences, but not vice versa: Southern California University of Health Sciences, Ponce Health Sciences University, Northwestern Health Sciences University, Roseman University of Health Sciences, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, New York Medical College, A T Still University of Health Sciences, Touro University Nevada, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Sonoran University of Health Sciences, Keck Graduate Institute, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Arkansas Colleges of Health Education
Enrollment
General
Teaching
Tenure track faculty are those who are eligible for tenure. This includes both pre-tenure and tenured faculty. Once faculty get tenure, they are (generally) protected from being fired for intellectual reasons, helping to ensure their freedom in teaching and research. They can still lose their positions for misconduct, financial problems, not fulfilling their duties, or other reasons.
Non-tenure track faculty are not eligible for tenure. Some are hired one semester at a time, some have multi-year contracts. They typically have a higher teaching load than tenure track faculty, leaving less time for research or other creative endeavors. They are also easier to fire than tenured faculty. Sometimes they are external experts (a noted musician, a former senator) who are hired to teach some classes without the expected permanence of a tenure-track position.
Note that this chart uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.
Having a low student to faculty ratio is considered a good thing by many, as it can mean more individual attention.
Geography
This has information on the location of the institution. See the about page for more information on what the metrics are and how they are calculated. The goal is to neutrally provide information: for example, some individuals want stringent gun control in an area, some want the opposite: the categories are meant to be descriptive.
Financial Aid
Graduation
Note these are bachelors graduation rates in six years, not four (this is standard). Sample sizes can be small for some demographic groups with few individuals in a school, leading to large year-to-year fluctuations and often extreme values for those groups (if there are two individuals in the class with a given identity, the possible graduation rates are 0%, 50%, or 100% depending on whether zero, one, or both students graduate within six years).
Library
Libraries are changing rapidly. Note that how institutions count digital collections may vary.
Diversity
The US Census Bureau has a diversity index that goes from 0 to 1. In their words, “A 0-value indicates that everyone in the population has the same racial and ethnic characteristics. A value close to 1 indicates that everyone in the population has different racial and ethnic characteristics.” This uses their formula, but with the resolution available for the federal IPEDS data (which does not separate for a given demographic group whether members identify as Hispanic or not). This metric is about heterogeneity within the population, not the proportion of the population that comes from historically excluded groups.
Following the practice of the census, the index is multiplied by 100 to give the percentage probability a random pair of individuals will have a different background. Most institutions argue that diversity is a benefit, so by default a higher number is listed as better, but there may be cases where this measure does not reflect the mission of a college (for example, 70% of the students at a tribal college or university may be American Indian: that could be low-scoring by this metric but should not be read as “bad” given the institution’s mission).
These numbers are based on the most recent year available, generally 2023, which predates effects of the US Supreme Court’s striking down of affirmative action. This has often changed, sometimes dramatically, the incoming student demographics at some institutions.
Overall diversity
Freshman profile
Demographic data for first time degree-seeking students. Note that this uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.
Freshman geography
Test scores
SAT scores
ACT scores
Majors
This presents information on the number of majors and the median earnings one and five years after graduation for people who got a degree from this institution in that field. The earnings are for those who are working and not enrolled in further education. The earnings data (from the federal college scorecard) also has information on earnings for those categorized as ‘MALE’ and ‘NOMALE’ – for readability, these are recategorized here as “Men” and “Women”, respectively, which adopts the gender binary used in other federal data. “W/M earnings ratio” is the median earnings of women divided by men, as a percentage.