Descriptions

San Francisco is the leading financial and cultural center of Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, is the second-most densely populated major city in the United States after New York City.

Today, San Francisco is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, is renowned for its cool summers, fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of architecture, and landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and its Chinatown. The city is also a primary banking and finance center.

San Francisco's weather is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean, which moderates temperature swings and produces a remarkably mild year-round climate with little seasonal temperature variation.

Education

Primary and secondary schools Public schools are run by the San Francisco Unified School District as well as the State Board of Education for some charter schools.  Just under 30% of the city's school-age population attends one of San Francisco's more than 100 private or parochial schools, compared to a 10% rate nationwide. Nearly 40 of those schools are Catholic schools.

Despite its limited geographical space, San Francisco, California is home to a multitude of colleges and universities.

Public colleges and universities include:

• City College of San Francisco, one of the largest community colleges in the country is located in the Ingleside, with several extension campuses.
• San Francisco State University located in the southwest corner of the city near Lake Merced
• University of California, San Francisco, primarily a graduate level health-sciences school, located in the Parnassus Heights/Inner Sunset neighborhood and in Mission Bay
• University of California, Hastings College of the Law located downtown at its Civic Center

Private colleges and universities:

• Academy of Art University
• Alliant International University, formerly California School of Professional Psychology
• Argosy University, San Francisco Bay Area
• Art Institute of California - San Francisco, a private campus which focuses on video game and design (interior, fashion etc.) based education
• Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
• California College of the Arts Oakland based school, offering undergraduate programs in architecture and design, and graduate programs in Potrero Hill
• California Institute of Integral Studies in several locations
• DeVry University, offering courses in business administration, engineering, communication, bioinformatics and management.
• The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), located in the heart of downtown
• Golden Gate University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducationaluniversity located in the Financial District of downtown San Francisco, California. Founded in 1901, the university is best known for its school of law.
• Heald College, located in the Financial District
• Hult International Business School formerly known as the Arthur D. Little School of Management offering a top-ranked one-year MBA, Master and Undergraduate degree programs. Located on SF waterfront and across from the headquarters of Levi Strauss & Co.
• New College of California, now defunct, was located in the Mission District
• Presidio Graduate School, a sustainability-focused higher education institution, offering accredited master's degrees in business administration (MBA) as well as public administration (MPA).
• San Francisco Art Institute, alma mater of both photographer Annie Leibovitz and performance artist Karen Finley
• San Francisco Conservatory of Music
• San Francisco Law School
• San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking
• The Jesuit-run University of San Francisco, one of the first universities established west of the Mississippi. It is located in the geographic center of the city on Lone Mountain.
• Saybrook University
• Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, offering their top-ranked MBA locally in San Francisco, located in the Financial District