This Week’s College: Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, California
Soka University of America is located on 103 acres of land in southern Orange County, California, close to the beach (three miles if you are a bird, nine if you are limited to human transport, as they point out). A private, four year liberal arts university founded upon the Buddhist principles of peace, human rights, and the sanctity of life, SUA provides a non-denominational curriculum with very small class sizes (average is 12) and a faculty student ratio of 1:8. It’s pretty highly selective and it has to be. It’s very small with only about 500 students attending. Yet it’s still very affordable as private colleges go, with a complete price that comes in under $49,000 a year before any financial aid is figured in, and with 85% of students offered financial aid, it becomes even more reasonable.
There are some very unusual aspects to SUA. Tuition includes the cost of studying abroad so every student who goes is expected to spend a semester living and learning in another culture. This is part of their mission at Soka University of America, which is simply “to foster a steady stream of global citizens committed to a contributive life.” To support this mission, SUA gives full tuition to any student who comes from a household making $60,000 or less. But they also have generous financial and merit aid for students whose families make more than this as well. SUA wants to have a diverse student body, a global student body because they believe that to support the endeavor of fostering citizens who will be contributive it will take all different people to create a student body.
The word “soka” means to create value. Helping students to have soka, to create value, in their lives, community, and world is a central tenet of the Soka Schools. These institutions of learning are common in Japan where kindergartens, primary, secondary, and even universities exist based on the work of Tsunesabaru Makiguchi, a Japanese educator and Buddhist leader who was imprisoned during World War II for his opposition to the war. From his teachings and scholarship which focused on the importance of individual growth and personal development while promoting peace, global understanding, and cultural exchange, the Soka Gakkai International began creating schools focused on this philosophy. In 1987, Soka University of America was begun.
With a background like this, you might imagine Soka would be pretty doctrinaire, but it’s absolutely the opposite. Students take a two course class that draws from common texts meant to challenge students to understand the complexities of cross cultural study, social and historical contexts, and interdisciplinary work. This Core Curriculum sequence of classes focuses on the liberal arts but also on cultural understanding between the east and the west. The first class is called The Enduring Questions of Humanity taken your first year. The class you take your second year is called The Enduring Questions In Contemporary Contexts.
The outcomes that are expected are that students will demonstrate and understand the commonalities and differences in the human experience from multiple perspectives, to critically evaluate this knowledge in the context of their lives, and the ability to communicate this knowledge effectively in writing and in speaking.
At Soka University they offer only one degree, a Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts. There are no majors, but you can have a concentration in Environmental Studies, Humanities, International Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Natural Sciences (coming Fall 2020). Additional programs include Creative Arts, Language and Culture, and Writing. There are general education requirements at SUA, but due to the nature of the school, they aren’t your usual physics, writing class, and calculus. You will have to take three communication and inquiry classes, two creative arts classes including one where you create art, three classes from the science and mathematical world, a class on the American experience, one on the Pacific experience, one health and wellness class, four language and culture classes, four to five study abroad classes, and two learning cluster classes.
The Learning Cluster classes at SUA are one of the unique aspects of the place. These are research classes where students work in teams with a faculty member for 3 ½ weeks to investigate a specific question, develop an idea, conduct experiments, or explore a field. The idea behind the Learning Cluster is that they connect the work of the classroom with the work of the world. Students can propose the work to be done and then follow through on the investigation or you can choose one that a professor has proposed. Learning Cluster work can include service learning, field work, or other travel which is why it’s done in this intensive time period. Previous examples have included:
The other thing that makes Soka different from your run of the mill college is that study abroad is an integrated part of the curriculum. They teach only a few languages at SUA – Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish – but they send students all over the place. With programs in Tai Pei and Valencia, Spain, in Nagoya, Japan and Paris, in Buenos Aires and Dakar, Senegal, you can go almost anywhere with SUA. Santiago your pick? You can choose between the Dominican Republic or Chile. They have programs in both. Madrid too busy? Try Salamanca, it’s a college town. Shanghai too hot? Harbin, China has skiing. Do you like to eat? Lima, Peru is hot food scene these days, and Quito, Ecuador’s Centro is full of hopping restaurants and nightlife these days. Prefer French cuisine, how about Aix-en-Provence? Oh, and SUA pays the plane ticket as well. It’s all covered in your tuition, it’s a graduation requirement after all.
As a senior at Soka you are required, as at many colleges, to complete a capstone project. This is a chance for you to delve deeply into what you have learned at your time at SUA. Every student works directly with a faculty member on a research project or culminating experience related to their work and concentration. This is a year long project and you will meet with your advisor regularly to check in on how your work is going.
Soka is home to the Pacific Basin Research Center which is dedicated to research on the humane and peaceful development of this region. Comprised of Oceania, Southeast Asia, Latin America, North America, and East Asia, PBRC’s mission is to add to the academic discourse at SUA by hosting conferences, lectures, seminars, and academics whose work in this area covers public policy, economic and social development, international security, environmental protection, education and cultural reform, and human rights. The addition of this research center on campus means that students have access to a wealth of resources in areas focused on community building, the promotion of peace, and also on international affairs.
Given the mission of Soka, the residential experience there is not the same as at other colleges or universities. The students don’t live in traditional dorms, but in a residential living and learning community. The residential community there has several objectives:
The residence communities are housed in pretty lovely buildings with several enjoying some pretty spectacular views (SUA is on 103 acres, but it’s surrounded by 4,000 acres of woodland). Several get the morning dawn and one gets an amazing view of the sunset every night. Most students who are first years live in doubles with a shared bathroom between them, and the residences all have a multipurpose room with large screen TV, DVD player, piano, foosball, ping pong, a pantry for students to keep and make food, laundry rooms, and living rooms. Several buildings also have Multi-faith rooms for students who wish to practice their faith there (daily prayers, Shabbat, etc.) and exercise rooms. All the residences have full time live in staff who are trained in residential life and who plan activities, provide support, and can also advise academically. Most housing is coed with women rooming with women and men with men. However they do have a gender neutral option for students with diverse sexuality and gender identification.
Soka is a member of NAIA and fields several teams for men and women’s athletics. Cross country, swimming and diving, soccer, track & field, and golf (just for women) are all NAIA sports. Volleyball, football, and basketball are available for intramural sports. But don’t let the small sports line up fool you. Health and wellness are a big part of Soka and with Laguna Beach so close by, students take advantage of what it has to offer. Paddle boarding, surfing, sailing, rock climbing, kayaking, and more are part of the athletics of SUA’s Outdoor Adventure Series.
As far as clubs go, students at Soka have some options there as well. Arts are an important part of the curriculum and they make their appearance in the club field too. Theater is popular, as is Compassion in Action. Indian classical dance, or Ghungroo is an option, as is Instant Radio. Join the Philharmonic Orchestra, Environment and Energy, Hip Hop Congress, Philosophy Circle, or Dancing for a Cause. Clubs at Soka are, like so much else there, purposeful and meant to bring community together in a way that promotes feelings of inclusion.
Is Soka University of America for you? It’s definitely pretty niche. But it’s also a really unusual experience. You have to really want to be a member of its community and ascribe to its mission. It’s not a classic education. But it’s the may be the kind of education that we need more of in this world right now. In a world where we seem to lack an understanding of different cultures, a university that promotes peace, community, and cultural exchange might be precisely what is necessary to help us create future leaders who can negotiate internationally with one another.
Pros:
Cons:
Soka University of America is located on 103 acres of land in southern Orange County, California, close to the beach (three miles if you are a bird, nine if you are limited to human transport, as they point out). A private, four year liberal arts university founded upon the Buddhist principles of peace, human rights, and the sanctity of life, SUA provides a non-denominational curriculum with very small class sizes (average is 12) and a faculty student ratio of 1:8. It’s pretty highly selective and it has to be. It’s very small with only about 500 students attending. Yet it’s still very affordable as private colleges go, with a complete price that comes in under $49,000 a year before any financial aid is figured in, and with 85% of students offered financial aid, it becomes even more reasonable.
There are some very unusual aspects to SUA. Tuition includes the cost of studying abroad so every student who goes is expected to spend a semester living and learning in another culture. This is part of their mission at Soka University of America, which is simply “to foster a steady stream of global citizens committed to a contributive life.” To support this mission, SUA gives full tuition to any student who comes from a household making $60,000 or less. But they also have generous financial and merit aid for students whose families make more than this as well. SUA wants to have a diverse student body, a global student body because they believe that to support the endeavor of fostering citizens who will be contributive it will take all different people to create a student body.
The word “soka” means to create value. Helping students to have soka, to create value, in their lives, community, and world is a central tenet of the Soka Schools. These institutions of learning are common in Japan where kindergartens, primary, secondary, and even universities exist based on the work of Tsunesabaru Makiguchi, a Japanese educator and Buddhist leader who was imprisoned during World War II for his opposition to the war. From his teachings and scholarship which focused on the importance of individual growth and personal development while promoting peace, global understanding, and cultural exchange, the Soka Gakkai International began creating schools focused on this philosophy. In 1987, Soka University of America was begun.
With a background like this, you might imagine Soka would be pretty doctrinaire, but it’s absolutely the opposite. Students take a two course class that draws from common texts meant to challenge students to understand the complexities of cross cultural study, social and historical contexts, and interdisciplinary work. This Core Curriculum sequence of classes focuses on the liberal arts but also on cultural understanding between the east and the west. The first class is called The Enduring Questions of Humanity taken your first year. The class you take your second year is called The Enduring Questions In Contemporary Contexts.
The outcomes that are expected are that students will demonstrate and understand the commonalities and differences in the human experience from multiple perspectives, to critically evaluate this knowledge in the context of their lives, and the ability to communicate this knowledge effectively in writing and in speaking.
At Soka University they offer only one degree, a Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts. There are no majors, but you can have a concentration in Environmental Studies, Humanities, International Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Natural Sciences (coming Fall 2020). Additional programs include Creative Arts, Language and Culture, and Writing. There are general education requirements at SUA, but due to the nature of the school, they aren’t your usual physics, writing class, and calculus. You will have to take three communication and inquiry classes, two creative arts classes including one where you create art, three classes from the science and mathematical world, a class on the American experience, one on the Pacific experience, one health and wellness class, four language and culture classes, four to five study abroad classes, and two learning cluster classes.
The Learning Cluster classes at SUA are one of the unique aspects of the place. These are research classes where students work in teams with a faculty member for 3 ½ weeks to investigate a specific question, develop an idea, conduct experiments, or explore a field. The idea behind the Learning Cluster is that they connect the work of the classroom with the work of the world. Students can propose the work to be done and then follow through on the investigation or you can choose one that a professor has proposed. Learning Cluster work can include service learning, field work, or other travel which is why it’s done in this intensive time period. Previous examples have included:
- Aesthetic Theory: NYC v. LA
- French Polynesia: A Pacific Oxymoron
- Biosecurity in Aqua-Structure: Parasites in Food – Iquitos, Peru
- Representing the Slave Trade: US Tourism and Ghana
- Housing and Weatherization in Argentina
The other thing that makes Soka different from your run of the mill college is that study abroad is an integrated part of the curriculum. They teach only a few languages at SUA – Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish – but they send students all over the place. With programs in Tai Pei and Valencia, Spain, in Nagoya, Japan and Paris, in Buenos Aires and Dakar, Senegal, you can go almost anywhere with SUA. Santiago your pick? You can choose between the Dominican Republic or Chile. They have programs in both. Madrid too busy? Try Salamanca, it’s a college town. Shanghai too hot? Harbin, China has skiing. Do you like to eat? Lima, Peru is hot food scene these days, and Quito, Ecuador’s Centro is full of hopping restaurants and nightlife these days. Prefer French cuisine, how about Aix-en-Provence? Oh, and SUA pays the plane ticket as well. It’s all covered in your tuition, it’s a graduation requirement after all.
As a senior at Soka you are required, as at many colleges, to complete a capstone project. This is a chance for you to delve deeply into what you have learned at your time at SUA. Every student works directly with a faculty member on a research project or culminating experience related to their work and concentration. This is a year long project and you will meet with your advisor regularly to check in on how your work is going.
Soka is home to the Pacific Basin Research Center which is dedicated to research on the humane and peaceful development of this region. Comprised of Oceania, Southeast Asia, Latin America, North America, and East Asia, PBRC’s mission is to add to the academic discourse at SUA by hosting conferences, lectures, seminars, and academics whose work in this area covers public policy, economic and social development, international security, environmental protection, education and cultural reform, and human rights. The addition of this research center on campus means that students have access to a wealth of resources in areas focused on community building, the promotion of peace, and also on international affairs.
Given the mission of Soka, the residential experience there is not the same as at other colleges or universities. The students don’t live in traditional dorms, but in a residential living and learning community. The residential community there has several objectives:
- It is purposeful, where students are meant to be together to study, live, and learn in community.
- It is open and inclusive, a place where all feel free to express themselves and are valued and supported as citizens of the community
- It is disciplined, a place where the community is entitled to a healthy, clean, quiet, and safe environment
- It is compassionate, where each resident is able to have an affect on the lives of others
The residence communities are housed in pretty lovely buildings with several enjoying some pretty spectacular views (SUA is on 103 acres, but it’s surrounded by 4,000 acres of woodland). Several get the morning dawn and one gets an amazing view of the sunset every night. Most students who are first years live in doubles with a shared bathroom between them, and the residences all have a multipurpose room with large screen TV, DVD player, piano, foosball, ping pong, a pantry for students to keep and make food, laundry rooms, and living rooms. Several buildings also have Multi-faith rooms for students who wish to practice their faith there (daily prayers, Shabbat, etc.) and exercise rooms. All the residences have full time live in staff who are trained in residential life and who plan activities, provide support, and can also advise academically. Most housing is coed with women rooming with women and men with men. However they do have a gender neutral option for students with diverse sexuality and gender identification.
Soka is a member of NAIA and fields several teams for men and women’s athletics. Cross country, swimming and diving, soccer, track & field, and golf (just for women) are all NAIA sports. Volleyball, football, and basketball are available for intramural sports. But don’t let the small sports line up fool you. Health and wellness are a big part of Soka and with Laguna Beach so close by, students take advantage of what it has to offer. Paddle boarding, surfing, sailing, rock climbing, kayaking, and more are part of the athletics of SUA’s Outdoor Adventure Series.
As far as clubs go, students at Soka have some options there as well. Arts are an important part of the curriculum and they make their appearance in the club field too. Theater is popular, as is Compassion in Action. Indian classical dance, or Ghungroo is an option, as is Instant Radio. Join the Philharmonic Orchestra, Environment and Energy, Hip Hop Congress, Philosophy Circle, or Dancing for a Cause. Clubs at Soka are, like so much else there, purposeful and meant to bring community together in a way that promotes feelings of inclusion.
Is Soka University of America for you? It’s definitely pretty niche. But it’s also a really unusual experience. You have to really want to be a member of its community and ascribe to its mission. It’s not a classic education. But it’s the may be the kind of education that we need more of in this world right now. In a world where we seem to lack an understanding of different cultures, a university that promotes peace, community, and cultural exchange might be precisely what is necessary to help us create future leaders who can negotiate internationally with one another.
Pros:
- Incredibly beautiful location
- Unique living learning experience
- Study abroad is included!
- Incredibly compassionate and kind student body
Cons:
- Extremely non-traditional
- One major only
- Not a lot of choice for classes
- Very small