History of Graduate Education

Pacific Tiger 1972

University of the Pacific has a long and successful history in graduate-level education. The University first experienced significant growth and an expansion into graduate and professional education under the administration of Dr. Robert Burns (1947-1971). In 1955, the School of Pharmacy opened and in 1956, the Graduate School was founded to establish academic oversight for a range of graduate programs across departments and schools.

In 1999, the Graduate School was merged with the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects. These offices were linked and known colloquially as “RGS” (Research/Graduate Studies), and shared leadership, space, and resources on Pacific’s Stockton campus, with a focus primarily on Stockton-based graduate programs.

Recent years have seen a rapid expansion of graduate programs at Pacific. On the Sacramento campus alone, graduate degree programs have grown from three to nine, along with a significantly more diverse student body. Similarly, the San Francisco campus is now home to four additional graduate programs in addition to the professional programs housed in the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. In response to this recent growth in graduate programs and associated programmatic and regional diversification, the Graduate School was re-established in 2017 and is now providing support to graduate programs, faculty, and students on all three campuses.