For many individuals, a university education opens different opportunities for career growth. Therefore, they try to get that challenging diploma because they know they’ll receive monetary remuneration later. However, college education costs keep increasing yearly, so numerous high school graduates prefer to work odd jobs.
If you’re one of those who yearn for that diploma, don’t fret because you can still study and earn that degree. If you live near the city of San Jose, you can opt to enroll at the San Jose State University. The institution is one of the cheapest universities in the area. If you live out of state or in other countries, you can still find affordable academic institutions in the city. We listed five affordable universities in San Jose that you can consider.
Affordable Schools in San Jose for International Students
1. San Jose State University
San Jose State University is a state-funded university and is the oldest academic institution for higher learning on the West Coast. It offers five credential programs and 145 undergraduate and graduate degrees. As of 2018, it also provides an independent and two joint doctoral degrees. Moreover, it is famous for having the most ethnically diverse student population in the U.S. The university provides for the needs of Silicon Valley corporations for graduates.
The original name of this cheap university in San Jose was Minns Evening Normal School, named after its founder, George W. Minns. It started in 1857 but became the California State Normal School through a California legislature act in 1862. The school transferred to San Jose in 1871, where it is to this day. It opened a branch in Los Angeles in 1882 and became what we know now as the University of California, Los Angeles, or UCLA.
The teacher training school experienced many name changes, and its last name was changed to San Jose State University through an ordinance by the California Legislature in 1974. SJSU has about 55 buildings in downtown San Jose.
2. National University
Retired U.S. Navy Captain David Chigos founded the National University as a private nonprofit institution in 1971. Its mission remains the same today: to offer achievable and accessible college education to adult learners. Its headquarters are in San Diego, but it has campuses in other locations in California. Because the school caters to adult students online, you can still pursue their programs while living in San Jose, often on weeknights and some Saturdays, lasting for four weeks.
National University also offers classes with real-time online classroom discussions, interactive multimedia, and streaming video. With this setup, adult learners can balance family, military duties, work, and everything. Moreover, the institution boasts of being California’s second-largest nonprofit, private higher education institution. It is one of the universities with the largest graduate student population in the USA.
About 9% of the student population is from the various military branches. National University serves veteran and active-duty students who want to earn their degrees at home, abroad, and on base. Moreover, it provides tuition discounts for military personnel and their dependents. Students can choose programs from the school’s roster of areas of study, such as business and marketing, teaching and education, healthcare and nursing, social sciences and psychology, engineering and technology, criminal justice and law, arts and humanities, and science and math.
3. DeVry University
In 1931, Dr. Herman DeVry founded DeVry University as a career-focused and tech-empowered academic institution. He believed that visual learning would change the world and advance education. The founder was also the inventor of the portable motion picture projector.
Dr. DeVry combined this vision with Keller Graduate School of Management’s founders to build an innovative school that provides career-driven and hands-on programs for working adult students. Academic offerings focus on the fields of study, such as the following:
- business and management
- engineering and information sciences
- health sciences
- liberal arts and sciences
- media arts and technology
This affordable university in San Jose has various undergraduate and graduate programs offered in these colleges. Its management graduate school provides graduate degree programs in the following:
- business administration
- accounting
- accounting and financial management
- human resources management
- information systems management
- network and communications management
- public administration
- project management
DeVry University offers a robust support network for its students by providing social activities, student organizations, and professional associations to produce well-rounded graduates.
4. University of Silicon Valley
The University of Silicon Valley is a private institution in San Jose, formerly known as Cogswell Polytechnical College, until 2021. Dr. and Mrs. Henry Cogswell began the institution in 1887 for high school students. It offered business classes for women and technical subjects for men. By 1930, USV transformed into a technical college.
The original campus was in San Francisco, but it moved to various locations over the years until it transferred to San Jose in 2015 on a leased building. Cogswell ensures that its graduates have the creativity, technological expertise, and entrepreneurial spirit fit for Silicon Valley.
The University of Silicon Valley offers programs in game design and development, digital art and animation, computer science and engineering, business entrepreneurship and innovation, and audio and music technology. Moreover, this institution is the first school in the West to provide technical training.
5. William Jessup University
William Jessup founded the university in 1939 as San Jose Bible College. The school changed its name to San Jose Christian College in 1989 and moved to Rocklin in 2003 when it didn’t find a new place in the Santa Clara Valley. In 2004, it changed its name to William Jessup University and retained its San Jose campus to cater to non-traditional and graduate students.
Its San Jose campus offers flexible schedules in four undergraduate and three graduate programs. However, many of its students are adult learners who strive to finish their degrees. The school’s Bachelor of Science in Psychology helps learners develop their work capacity.
This university in San Jose caters primarily to Christians and provides scripture-based methodologies that are also clinically sound and culturally sensitive. Graduates have careers in business, church ministry, and human services. Furthermore, its curriculum includes Christian principles so that graduates can excel in any business climate.
Also, the institution’s curriculum prepares them for social work, counseling, and psychology graduate studies. On the other hand, its Bachelor of Science in Business Administration offers subjects that will hone the student’s skills in project management, leadership, finance, accounting, and marketing.
There’s no question that the most affordable university is a state-funded university, of course, but don’t let that limit you. You can still try private academic institutions that don’t charge hefty tuition fees. Moreover, many of these universities offer scholarships, so why don’t you apply to any of these institutions today?
We hope this article on the cheapest universities in San Jose was helpful. Also, make sure to visit our Study in the USA page and check out the Available Programs for International Students in the USA for more details on how to study in the U.S.
