Sacramento: Education and Research

Sacramento: Education and Research

Elementary and Secondary Schools

The Sacramento City Unified School District, among the largest in the state, is Sacramento's primary school district and has a student enrollment of 52,850 in its 80 schools as of the 2002-2003 school year. Other districts in Sacramento are: Grant Joint Union High, with 12,682 students in 14 schools; Natomas Unified, 7,653 students in 10 schools; North Sacramento Elementary, 5,552 students in 11 schools; Robla Elementary, 2,323 students in 5 schools; Del Paso Heights, 2,155 students in 5 schools; and California Education Authority, 214 students in one school.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Sacramento City Unified School District as of the 2002-2003 school year.

Total enrollment: 52,850

Number of facilities elementary schools: 64

middle schools: 8

senior high schools: 14

Student/teacher ratio: 21.2:1

Teacher salaries minimum: $36,408

maximum: $67,918

Funding per pupil: $7,414 (2000-2001 school year)

Sacramento also has 84 private and parochial schools.

Public Schools Information: Sacramento City Unified School District, 5735 47th Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95824; telephone (916)643-7400

Colleges and Universities

Sacramento is home to a number of colleges and universities. Four-year institutions include California State University (CSU), with an enrollment of approximately 25,700 students. CSU has the following academic divisions: Arts and Letters; Business Administration; Education; Engineering and Computer Science; Health and Human Services; Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies; and Continuing Education. CSU offers 60 undergraduate degree programs and 40 graduate programs. Golden Gate University, which offers undergraduate and graduate programs in business and management, information technology, taxation, and law, has a Sacramento campus (its main campus is in San Francisco). Nearby is the University of California at Davis, which boasts a highly regarded medical center—the primary teaching facility of the university's School of Medicine—located in Sacramento. A new $40 million education building for 200 first-and second-year medical students at the center that will double the number of students on campus and is scheduled for completion in 2006. Two-year colleges in Sacramento are American River, Cosumnes River, and Sacramento City colleges.

Libraries and Research Centers

The Sacramento Public Library operates a 160,000-square-foot Central Library that opened plus 25 branches and bookmobiles. Holdings include 1.8 million volumes and 3,952 periodical subscriptions, plus audio and video tapes, recordings, maps, and art reproductions. Among the special collections are Californiana, the history of printing, and city planning and urban development. One of the library branches, 38-year-old Carmichael Library, is currently closed and undergoing a $6.8 million renovation and expansion that will increase its square footage from 5,905 to 19,490; the library is scheduled to reopen in summer of 2006.

The California State University, Sacramento, Library holds1.2 million volumes, 4,444 e-books, nearly 5,000 periodical subscriptions, 12,847 audio/visual materials, plus maps and government documents. Sacramento is also the headquarters of the California State Library with special collections of federal and state government documents; its holdings include 777,509 volumes. The Braille and Talking Book Library has 55,000 titles and 15 periodical subscriptions.

The Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), which has 14 field stations in California and one in Nevada, is headquartered in Sacramento. WERC offers its clients and partners the research and technology needed to support the management of Pacific Southwestern ecosystems. WERC's scientists are experts in such fields as herpetology, conservation biology, wetlands ecology, and ecological restoration. The research centers and institutes of the nearby University of California at Davis (UC) perform research in a wide variety of areas such as food safety and cleaner fuel technologies. UC Davis's renowned Health System, which is based in Sacramento, has more than 550 research studies—including basic science, translational, and clinical research—underway as of early 2005. The center has performed cutting edge research in such areas as autism and cancer. Other research centers in the Sacramento area conduct inquiries in such fields as natural history and grain studies.

Public Library Information: Sacramento Public Library, 828 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814-3576; telephone (916)264-2770