Education has always played a major role in San Diego. From the first crude schools of the 18th century Mission San Diego de Alcala to the modern campuses of institutes and universities, education has been at the forefront of the city’s culture and economy.
No fewer than nine colleges and universities, led by the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, attract students and faculty from throughout the U.S. and foreign countries. A number of Nobel Prize laureates and members of the National Academy of Sciences lecture and conduct research at UCSD in Torrey Pines.

Public education is well-served by the San Diego Unified School District. The SDUSD
has more than 133,000 students and is the eighth-largest urban school district in the nation. More than 15,800 employees man the district’s facilities, which include 114 elementary schools, 23 middle schools, 27 high schools, 34 charter schools and 18 atypical or alternative schools. In addition to its professional staff, the District received more than 676,000 manhours of assistance from 22,000 individual volunteers during the 2004-2005 school year.