Colleges in San Jose
The City of San Jose in California is the third-most populous in the state. Considered the economic, cultural, and political powerhouse of Silicon Valley, San Jose is a global city with an extremely high cost of living. On top of being home to major tech companies like Cisco System, Paypal, eBay, and many more, the Capital of Silicon Valley also has played, and continues to play, a significant role in higher education.
The University of California system was founded in San Jose with the San Jose State University. SJSU is the oldest public university in the west coast and serves more than 30,000 with its upwards of 200 degree options. San Jose is also served by a handful of 2-year institutions, which include San Jose City College, Mission College, Evergreen Valley College, and West Valley College. For paramedic training, WestMed’s headquarters are located in San Jose.
When it comes to graduate schools, there are two in San Jose that offer law degrees, the Lincoln Law School of San Jose and the University of Silicon Valley Law School. National University offers degrees for adult learning, with classes being offered primarily in the evening and in four-week stints. Western Seminary maintains a campus in San Jose, as well, offering graduate theological degrees. There is also a division of Golden Gate University, whose main campus is in San Francisco, that offers bachelor’s degrees in business and MBAs.
Outside of the city but in the San Jose metropolitan area are a number of notable institutions. Santa Clara University, the oldest operating institution of higher learning in the state, is less than 15 minutes from San Jose, a private, Jesuit university. Stanford University in Stanford, CA, is just over 20 minutes from San Jose, and is an American research university known for its academics. The University of California in Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz, is a bit over an hour from San Jose, but is one of 10 institutions in the 10-campus UC system and offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
San Jose is a highly automobile-dependent city with an expansive freeway system but does offer some rail service through Amtrak, ACE, Caltrain, and VTA Light Rail. The area is served by four airports, with the closest being Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport and Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County.
