University Facts
The University Facts provides a comprehensive look at who our students are and what they study, as well as their persistence and completion rates.
Student Learning
At Dominican, students explore purpose and meaning through breadth of knowledge in general education and a depth of knowledge in majors and graduate study. Learning outcomes are important in developing and assessing students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities as they advance through the core curriculum, as well as within their specific fields of study.
The Institutional Learning Outcomes represent our commitment that every Dominican Graduate will have the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills, and personal capabilities throughout their studies and experiences.
Goal: Exploration and Acquisition of Knowledge |
Goal: Practice of Civic Skills and Social Responsibility |
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Students explore: Purpose and meaning through breadth of knowledge in general education and a depth of knowledge in majors and graduate study. |
Students gain skills to become global citizens who act within diverse contexts. Students practice:
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Goal: Development of intellectual, professional and artistic skills |
Goal: Cultivation of Well-Being |
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Students prepare for a successful life and career through research and practical application of skills. Students develop:
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Students engage in personal development to build resilience and support the flourishing of self and others. Students cultivate:
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Each undergraduate and graduate program has a link to their learning outcomes on their program page as well as the course catalog.
Student Experience and Achievement
During their time at Dominican, students are immersed in personal development opportunities to build resilience and support the flourishing of self and others, while becoming prepared for a successful life and career through research and practical application of skills. Through the four high-impact practices of the Dominican Experience, as well as additional opportunities to engage more broadly with the campus and the greater community, students are empowered to persist and complete their degree.
The Dominican Experience is designed for the twenty-first century student –– the thinker, the doer, the artist, the activist, the trailblazer, the entrepreneur –– from every walk of life.
Engaged learning is an area of distinction for Dominican. Students have multiple opportunities to participate in research, events, community service, groups, clubs, activities, and more. The pages below highlight some examples:
What is the NSSE?
The National Survey of Student Engagement collects information about first-year and senior students' participation in programs and activities for their learning and personal development. The results give a picture of how undergraduate students spend their time and what they gain from attending Dominican.
Senior engagement in high-impact practices
Percentage of senior respondents who reported participating in the following high-impact practices (HIPs) during their time at Dominican:
| Participation in 2+ HIPs | 85% |
|---|---|
| Community-Based Project/Service-Learning | 80% |
| Internship or Field Experience | 79% |
| Culminating Senior Experience | 64% |
| Research with Faculty | 47% |
| Learning Community | 42% |
| Formal leadership role in student organization/group | 38% |
Areas of greatest gains from Dominican education:
Seniors reported that their educational experience at Dominican contributed most positively to “Thinking critically and analytically,” followed by "Working effectively with others." The table below includes additional areas that were either“very much” or “quite a bit” improved also.
| Thinking critically and analytically | 87% |
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| Working effectively with others | 83% |
| Writing clearly and effectively | 75% |
| Developing or clarifying a personal code of values and ethics | 75% |
| Understanding people of other backgrounds (economic, racial/ethnic, political, religious, nationality, etc.) | 75% |
| Speaking clearly and effectively | 74% |
Career Outcomes
Dominican educates and prepares students to become ethical leaders and socially responsible global citizens who incorporate the Dominican values of study, reflection, community, and service into their lives. Upon graduation, alumni enter a variety of fulfilling career paths and/or courses of study to continue their education.
Read about recent alumni success in our News Hub.
All information for this section sourced from LinkedIn profiles for undergraduate Dominican alumni who graduated between 2018 & 2022 (data captured July 2023).
Top industries of employment include:
- Marketing and Advertising
- Hospital and Healthcare
- Medical Practice
- Health, Wellness and Fitness
- Higher Education
- Broadcast Media
- Education Management
- Nonprofit Organization and Management
- Research
Select employers include:
- Apple
- Bayer
- BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
- California State Assembly
- Canal Alliance
- Center for Domestic Peace
- Community Action Marin
- John Muir Health
- Johns Hopkins Hospital
- Kaiser Permanente
- KQED
- Marin County Sheriff's Office
- Marin General Hospital
- Mayo Clinic
- Microsoft
- Regional Medical Center of San Jose
- Rocky Mountain University Health Professions
- San Francisco Department of Public Health
- San Francisco, San Rafael, and Sonoma Valley Unified School Districts
- Stanford Children's Health
- Stanford University School of Medicine
- Sutter Health
- Tesla
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- UC Davis Medical Center
- UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment
- University of Washington Medical Center
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center
Top areas of study for Dominican undergraduates who continued their education in graduate programs include:
- Occupational Therapy
- Business Administration, Accounting, or Management
- Healthcare Leadership
- Biology
- Public Health (General/Environment/Epidemiology)
- Education (Teaching/Administration)
- Medicine or Pharmacy
- Psychology (Clinical/Counseling/Applied)
- Computer Science
- Nursing (Clinical/Practitioner)
- Law
- Physician's Assistant
Select Graduate Schools include:
- California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Middlebury College
- The George Washington University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Davis - School of Medicine
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of Chicago
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Puget Sound
- University of San Francisco
- University of Southern California
- University of Washington School of Law
- Vanderbilt University Law School
Recent graduates indicated their “Critical-thinking" skills were most transformed as part of their Dominican educational experience. Additional skill areas respondents rated as either “Quite a bit” or "Very much" developed during their time at Dominican are listed below.
| Critical-thinking | 88% |
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| Information Literacy | 85% |
| Teamwork | 85% |
| Problem Solving | 83% |
| Quantitative Literacy | 80% |
| Integrative Thinking | 80% |
| Creative Thinking | 78% |
| Ethical Reasoning | 78% |
Attaining Institutional Learning Outcomes
Graduates reported they made the most progress in the "Development of Intellectual, Professional, and Artistic Skills" Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) while at Dominican. See below for the percentage of students who Agreed or Strongly Agreed with the related ILS statements.
| Prepared for a successful life and career through research and practical application of skills (Development of Intellectual, Professional, and Artistic Skills) | 89% |
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| Gained skills to become a global citizen within diverse contexts (Practice of Civic Skills and Social Responsibility) | 86% |
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Engaged in personal development to build resilience and support the flourishing of self and others (Cultivation of Well-Being) |
81% |
| Explored purpose and meaning through breadth of knowledge in general education and a depth of knowledge in my major (Exploration and Acquisition of Knowledge) | 81% |
All information for this section was reported by recent Dominican graduates who participated in the 2023 administration of the HEDS Alumni Survey.
