Soka University of America
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Soka University of America (SUA) is a
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...
in
Aliso Viejo, California Aliso Viejo (Spanish for "Old Sycamore") is a city in the San Joaquin Hills of southern Orange County, California. It had a population of 47,823 as of the 2010 census, up from 40,166 as of the 2000 census. It became Orange County's 34th city on ...
. Originally founded in 1987, it was established on its current campus in 2001 by
Daisaku Ikeda is a Japanese Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, and nuclear disarmament advocate. He served as the third president and then honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, the largest of Japan's new religious movements. Ikeda is the founding pre ...
, the founder of the
Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organisation founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai, which declares approximately 12 million adherents in 192 countries and territorie ...
Buddhist movement. Though affiliated with Soka Gakkai, it maintains a secular curriculum which emphasizes
pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
,
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
, and the creative coexistence of nature and humanity. A much larger and older sister school,
Sōka University , abbreviated typically as or , is a private university in Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan. In 2014, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) designated Soka University as one of Japan's Top Global Universitie ...
in Japan, is located in Hachiōji, Tokyo. SUA encompasses both a four-year
liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
college and a graduate school offering a Master's program in Educational Leadership and Societal Change. SUA also hosts the Pacific Basin Research Center and the newly created SUA Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Human Rights. It has an endowment of $1.2 billion , giving it the second-highest endowment per student of any college or university in the United States.


History and philosophy

SUA is a secular and nonsectarian college founded by
Daisaku Ikeda is a Japanese Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, and nuclear disarmament advocate. He served as the third president and then honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, the largest of Japan's new religious movements. Ikeda is the founding pre ...
, the President of
Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organisation founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai, which declares approximately 12 million adherents in 192 countries and territorie ...
(SGI). SUA's philosophical foundation originated in the work of
Tsunesaburō Makiguchi Tsunesaburō Makiguchi (牧口 常三郎, ''Makiguchi Tsunesaburō''; 23 July 1871 (lunar calendar date 6 June) – 18 November 1944) was a Japanese educator who founded and became the first president of the Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai (Value-Creating ...
, who was the first President of Soka Gakkai (previous name Soka Kyoiku Gakkai) and created a society for
educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
s dedicated to social and
educational reform Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, th ...
in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
during the years leading up to World War II. Makiguchi was an
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
principal, strongly influenced by
John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...
and American
educational progressivism Progressive education, or protractivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term ''pr ...
. Between 1930-1934, Makiguchi published his four-volume work, ''Sōka Kyōikugaku Taikei'' (Value Creating Education System), to argue for his belief that
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
should proceed through
dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...
instead of "force-feeding"
information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...
to
student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...
s. This student-centered and
humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, he argued, made "the purpose of education" an effort "to lead students to
happiness Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...
." Education, he asserted, should be directed toward "creating value" for the
individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...
and
society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
. Makiguchi was a
pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
and an ardent believer in
religious liberty Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
and
freedom of conscience Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. Overview Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...
. Jailed by Japanese authorities during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
for ideas and actions inimical to the war effort, he died in prison on 18 November 1944. After the war, as the Soka Gakkai organization grew, Makiguchi's educational philosophy became the centerpiece of a number of Soka schools in Japan advocated by his successors,
Jōsei Toda was a teacher, peace activist and second president of Soka Gakkai from 1951 to 1958. Imprisoned for two years during World War II under violating the Peace Preservation Law and the charge of lèse-majesté from against the war, he emerged from ...
(second President of Soka Gakkai, a former elementary school teacher) and
Daisaku Ikeda is a Japanese Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, and nuclear disarmament advocate. He served as the third president and then honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, the largest of Japan's new religious movements. Ikeda is the founding pre ...
(third President of Soka Gakkai), who is the founder of SUA. Ikeda describes the founding of SUA as the fruition of the dreams of Makiguchi and Toda.


Allegations of sectarianism

In 2003, two professors claimed they experienced
religious discrimination Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular beliefs which they hold about a religion. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treated u ...
,
breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...
as well as
age discrimination Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler def ...
. One professor took legal action against SUA based on these allegations, but her case was dismissed on summary judgment. Soka University administrators disputed all allegations of discrimination and noted that the majority of faculty and staff are not Buddhist, said there was no evidence of preferential treatment, and said that the institution has never taught nor will it teach Buddhist—or any other—religious practices. In 2011, Michelle Woo wrote an article for '' OC Weekly'', a local publication in Orange County, California, in which she mentioned possible proselytizing of non-Buddhist staff and students. The article was disputed by Soka University students, faculty, and staff.


Campus


Calabasas

In 1987, SUA was formed as a not-for-profit organization incorporated in the state of California. Initially it was a small graduate school located on the former Gillette−Brown Ranch in Calabasas and the
Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...
. Originally the location was the site of
pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
''Talepop'', a settlement of the
Chumash people The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Malibu ...
. It was within the Spanish land grant
Rancho Las Virgenes Rancho Las Vírgenes was a land grant in the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, in present day western Los Angeles County, California. The lands of the Rancho Las Vírgenes included present day Agoura Hills, Oak Park, and Westlake Villag ...
in the 19th century. In the 1920s, it became the rural estate of
King Gillette King Camp Gillette (January 5, 1855 – July 9, 1932) was an American businessman who invented a bestselling version of the safety razor. Gillette's innovation was the thin, inexpensive, disposable blade of stamped steel. Gillette is often err ...
with a mansion designed by
Wallace Neff Edwin Wallace Neff (January 28, 1895 – June 8, 1982) was an architect based in Southern California and was largely responsible for developing the region's distinct architectural style referred to as "California" style. Neff was a student of ...
. In 1952, it became the Claretville seminary of the Claretian Order of the Catholic Church, and in 1977 it became the religious center of
Elizabeth Clare Prophet Elizabeth Clare Prophet (''née'': Wulf, a.k.a. Guru Ma) (April 8, 1939 – October 15, 2009) was an American spiritual leader, author, orator, and writer. In 1963 she married Mark L. Prophet (after ending her first marriage), who had founded ...
and the
Church Universal and Triumphant The Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT) is an international New Age religious organization founded in 1975 by Elizabeth Clare Prophet. It is an outgrowth (and is now the corporate parent) of The Summit Lighthouse, founded in 1958 by Prophet's ...
(CUT). In 1986, CUT sold the property to Soka University of Japan. Soka University of America (SUA), originally called Soka University of Los Angeles (SULA), initially operated a small ESL (English as a Second Language) school at the Calabasas campus, enrolling just under 100 students. In 1990, SUA announced plans to build a future liberal arts college on campus and plans to expand the facility over the next 25 years to an enrollment of as many as 5,000 students. SUA began making plans to expand the campus infrastructure to accommodate living quarters and classrooms for the proposed expansion, but ran into opposition from some local residents, the
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is an agency of the state of California in the United States founded in 1980 and dedicated to the acquisition of land for preservation as open space, for wildlife and California native plants habitat Natu ...
, environmentalists, and government representatives. Opponents sought to protect the Chumash ancestral site, the natural
habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s and ecology, and the expansive open space
viewshed A viewshed is the geographical area that is visible from a location. It includes all surrounding points that are in line-of-sight with that location and excludes points that are beyond the horizon or obstructed by terrain and other features (e.g. ...
within the
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is in t ...
, and to prevent a development of unprecedented
urban density Urban density is a term used in urban planning and urban design to refer to the number of people inhabiting a given urbanized area. As such it is to be distinguished from other measures of population density. Urban density is considered an importan ...
adjacent to
Malibu Creek State Park Malibu Creek State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving the Malibu Creek canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. The park was established in 1974. Opened to the public in 1976, the park is also a component of Santa Monic ...
. In 1992, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), a joint-powers authority associated with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, resorted to its powers of
eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
to condemn the core parcel comprising the institution and thereby halted SUA's plans for expansion. SUA appealed the eminent domain action. In 1994, SUA opened a small graduate school, offering an MA in Second and Foreign Language Education with a concentration in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The legal debate continued for the remainder of the decade. Soka University was prevented from developing any expansion plans at the Calabasas property and began looking for alternative sites to build a larger campus. The Graduate School held its first commencement in December 1995, and in the same year SUA acquired a 103-acre site in Aliso Viejo for a private non-profit four-year liberal arts college. The Aliso Viejo campus opened on May 3, 2001 with a freshman class of 120 students from 18 countries and 18 states. In June 2005, Soka University received its accreditation from the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). SUA sold the Calabasas property in April 2005 to a coalition of buyers led by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA). The former campus is now managed jointly by the Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority, the state parks department, and the
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is in t ...
.
The former campus is now public parkland, known as
King Gillette Ranch Park King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, and houses the visitor center for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. In 2007, the Calabasas campus was closed and the Graduate School relocated to the Aliso Viejo campus.


Aliso Viejo

In 1995, the institution bought of rough-graded property for $25 million in
Aliso Viejo Aliso Viejo (Spanish for "Old Sycamore") is a city in the San Joaquin Hills of southern Orange County, California. It had a population of 47,823 as of the 2010 census, up from 40,166 as of the 2000 census. It became Orange County's 34th city on ...
, located in southern
Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...
, California. It then spent $225 million to build the first 18 buildings of the new campus, which opened to 120 first year undergraduate students on 24 August 2001. The architecture was designed in a style resembling an Italian hillside village in Tuscany, with red-tiled roofs, stonework, and earth colors. Three academic buildings were named after the founder and Sōka Gakkai's third president
Daisaku Ikeda is a Japanese Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, and nuclear disarmament advocate. He served as the third president and then honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, the largest of Japan's new religious movements. Ikeda is the founding pre ...
and his wife, Kaneko Ikeda; 20th−century peace activists
Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...
and Eva Helen Pauling; and
Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
and Kasturba Gandhi. An additional academic building dedicated in 2012 was named after Nobel Peace Laureate
Wangari Maathai Wangarĩ Muta Maathai (; 1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was a Kenyan social, environmental and a political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. As a beneficiary of the Kennedy Airlift, she studied in the Un ...
. Since August 2007 the Aliso Viejo campus has been the home for all of SUA's graduate, undergraduate, and research programs. The Aliso Viejo campus is bordered on three sides by
Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park is a major regional park in the San Joaquin Hills of Orange County, California in the United States. Comprising of rugged coastal canyons, open grassland, and riparian woodland, the park borders the sub ...
encompassing a county wildlife sanctuary. In 2017, Soka University of America began construction on two new residential halls and a new science building. Each new residence hall houses 50 people, allowing the campus to expand its student population by 100. The science hall is the home of the new Life Sciences Concentration, which allows undergraduates to complete pre-med requirements and study topics related to biology, medicine, and health. Both projects were completed by Fall 2020. Ultimately, Soka University of America plans to build additional residence halls, academic buildings and expanded dining facilities to accommodate up to a maximum of ~1,000 students in total.


Academics

SUA has an 8:1 student/faculty ratio and an average class size of 12. * The undergraduate college offers a
Bachelor of Liberal Arts The Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA or ALB) is the title of an undergraduate bachelor's degree. Generally, it is awarded to students who major in liberal arts, pursue interdisciplinary studies, or design their own concentrations. Often a ''Bachelor ...
with emphasis areas in Environmental Studies, Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences, International Studies, or Life Sciences. Classrooms typically use seminar methods. * The graduate school offers a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
degree in Educational Leadership and Societal Change. * The Pacific Basin Research Center supports research on the humane and peaceful development of the Asia-Pacific Region, including the Latin American border states. It awards grants and fellowships to researchers studying public policy interactions in the Pacific Rim in such areas as international security, economic and social development, educational and cultural reform, environmental protection and human rights. The Center also sponsors campus conferences, occasional lecture series, and student seminars that extend and support its research activities. *The Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Human Rights will host individuals from around the country and the globe who work to increase understanding and progress on addressing the issues confronting society, including global and local ethnic conflict as well as systemic and institutional racism in the United States.


Rankings

Soka University of America's ranking in the '' U.S. News & World Report''s 2020 edition of ''Best Colleges'' is tied for 27th overall, 7th in "Best Value", and 9th in "Top Performers on Social Mobility" among U.S. liberal arts colleges. For 2020, ''
Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alternat ...
'' ranked Soka 87th among liberal arts colleges in the U.S. based on their contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. In 2015, the Christian Science Monitor listed SUA 2nd on a top 10 list of the most globally minded colleges.


Curriculum

There are no discipline-based departments at Soka University. Instead, the institution has focused on
interdisciplinarity Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...
. SUA undergraduates get a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts, while choosing one of five possible concentration tracks: *Environmental Studies *Humanities *International Studies *Life Sciences *Social & Behavioral Sciences


Learning clusters

Learning clusters are three-week intensive courses focused on a significant problem of contemporary relevance. Faculty and students develop learning clusters in collaboration during each fall semester. The primary goal is to produce an "educated response" and build student skills for research, critical thought, and active engagement in the world. Learning clusters typically create a collaborative final project designed to be shared with the "off campus" world in some way. Each year several learning clusters travel within and outside the United States (South America, Central America, China, India, and Korea as well as other places) with funding from the Luis & Linda Nieves Family Foundation.


Study abroad

All undergraduate students at Soka University of America must study a non-native language. The languages offered are
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
, French,
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...
, and
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
. The language must be studied for two years, then all undergraduate students at Soka University of America study abroad for one semester in the spring or fall of their junior year in a country whose language they are studying (costs included in tuition). SUA was the first liberal arts college in the US to require mandatory study abroad for all students when it opened in 2001. The first students went abroad in 2004.


Student life

About 60% of SUA's student body is from the United States, with the other 40% coming from 30 other countries on six continents. From 2014 until the present, Soka University has been ranked #1 in "Foreign Student Factor" (highest percentage of international students) among national liberal arts colleges by '' U.S. News & World Report''. SUA is a residential college and students live on campus in one of eight residential buildings. Parking is free on campus and a free half-hourly shuttle service is offered to enrolled students.


Athletics

The Soka athletic teams are called the Lions. The institution is a member of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
(NAIA), primarily competing in the
California Pacific Conference The California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference commissioner is Don Ott. Conference leadership is shared among the member in ...
(Cal Pac) for most of its sports since the 2012–13 academic year; its men's & women's swimming & diving teams compete in the
Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
(PCSC). The Lions previously competed as an NAIA Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) from 2008–09 to 2011–12. Soka competes in nine intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include cross country, soccer, swimming & diving and track & field; while women's sports include cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving and track & field.


Admissions and graduation rate

For the Class of 2025 (enrolling fall 2021), Soka received 939 applications, accepted 180 (19.2%) and enrolled 111. The middle 50% range of SAT scores was 570–670 for reading and 610–740 for math, while the middle 50% range for the ACT composite score was 25–30 for enrolled first year students. Since 2008, full tuition Soka Opportunity Scholarships are available for admitted students whose families make $60,000 or less. SUA was named #4 in ''U.S. News & World Report'''s 2015 national rankings for "Best Value - Liberal Arts Colleges". Between 2005-2007 SUA graduated its first three undergraduate classes with an average graduation rate of 90%. As of 2007, 38% of SUA graduates had gone on to graduate programs.


Notable people

A notable alumna of Soka University of America is
Tahereh Mafi Tahereh Mafi (November 9, 1988) is an American author based in Santa Monica, California. She is known for writing young adult fiction. Early life Mafi was born on November 9, 1988, in a small town in Connecticut. She is the youngest child of he ...
, New York Times best selling author. Notable faculty includes humanities professors
Robert Allinson Robert Elliott Allinson is an international philosopher of American origin. He iProfessor of Philosophyat Soka University of America and was formerly Full Professor of Philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the author/editor of n ...
and Jim Merod, the latter having recorded numerous jazz artists (including Herbie Hancock and Ella Fitzgerald) in addition to his scholarship.


References


Bibliography

* *


External links

*
Official athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soka University Of America Universities and colleges in Orange County, California Aliso Viejo, California Soka Gakkai Buddhist universities and colleges in the United States Liberal arts colleges in California Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Alternative education Nichiren Buddhism Progressive colleges Educational institutions established in 1987 1987 establishments in California Educational institutions established in 2001 2001 establishments in California Private universities and colleges in California