Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and located in Atherton, California, United States.
Contents
Campus
Menlo College is situated on a 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco and 20 miles northwest of San Jose, California.
History
Menlo College was founded in 1927 when the Menlo School for Boys grew to include a junior college. The institution, under the leadership of Lowry Howard, changed its name to Menlo School and Junior College. The college admitted 27 students that year. Enrollment in the school and college rose to 112 the following year, with 80 of those students attending the college.
The effects of the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent depression reached Menlo in 1931, and the institution faced the possibility of having to close its doors. Deliverance came in the form of two generous acts. First, Board Chairman C. F. Michaels made a series of substantial loans to Menlo to help sustain its operations. That same year, the Town of Atherton voted to deed a strip of land to Menlo, allowing the institution to expand its campus. The property was originally the site for a proposed new road, but the town decided that the new road would not be necessary.
From the founding of the junior college through 1932, Howard and Michaels had been meeting with Ray Lyman Wilbur, president of Stanford University, to discuss the possibility of having Menlo serve as Stanford's lower division institution. The three developed a detailed plan wherein Stanford would drop its freshman and sophomore classes and Menlo would move its operations to the Stanford campus. The Stanford Board of Trustees reviewed the plans and turned down the proposal. Stanford would maintain its four-year undergraduate program. Wilbur remained interested in Menlo nonetheless, and in 1933, he appointed six members of the Stanford faculty to educational advisory roles at Menlo.
The start of World War II brought to Menlo the challenge of reduced enrollment. To balance the student body, Howard instated a four-four plan wherein grades 7 through 10 were designated to the school while grades 11 through 14 constituted the college.
As World War II was coming to an end in 1944, President Howard suffered severe heart trouble, and his physician advised that he retire from the presidency of Menlo. The Board of Trustees chose William E. Kratt, former college dean and soon-to-be Navy veteran, as Howard's successor.
The former estate of the Leon F. Douglass family, which was adjacent to Menlo, housed a rehabilitation center for World War II veterans until 1946. The Douglass family supported Menlo in acquiring the newly vacant property, and plans were made to move the school (grades 7 to 10, and later, 11 and 12) to that area.
Academics
Menlo College offers bachelor's degrees in business and psychology, as well as master's degree programs including the Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS), Master of Science in Financial Technology (MSFT), and Master of Arts in Sport and Performance Psychology (MASPP). Business programs include areas such as accounting, marketing, sports management, and AI & analytics.
Bowman Library
Bowman Library serves as a center for research, instruction, study, group work, and community events. The print collection includes more than 60,000 volumes, and the Library maintains subscriptions to 40,000 journals and magazines in print and online formats. The Library also provides on- and off-campus access to a variety of reference resources and databases in business and the liberal arts.
The library is named for Timothy Dillon Bowman, a former student. In 1962, Bowman's parents provided the funding necessary to convert the Menlo College Dining Commons into the present-day library (Curtis 1984, p. 28).
Rankings
The Princeton Review has recognized Menlo College as one of the “Best Colleges in the West” for over fifteen consecutive years, most recently in its 2025 Best Colleges: Region by Region list.
Accreditation
In 2014, Menlo College earned Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. The college is also accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.
Athletics
The Menlo athletic teams are called the Oaks. The college is a member of NCAA Division II, primarily competing in the Pacific West Conference (PacWest) for most of its sports since the 2024–25 academic year; while its men's & women's wrestling and men's volleyball teams compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). The Oaks previously competed as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) from 2015–16 to 2023–24 and the California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) from 1996–97 to 2014–15.
Menlo competes in 14 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men’s varsity sports include baseball, basketball, golf, soccer, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling. Women’s varsity sports include basketball, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling.
In addition to its varsity teams, Menlo sponsors non-NCAA programs in NCBA baseball, NCWA men’s and women’s wrestling, men’s and women’s weightlifting, and men’s and women’s taekwondo. The taekwondo program is led by TJ Curry, a two-time U.S. national team member and international medalist, who serves as the college’s inaugural Director of Taekwondo.
In 2026, Menlo College announced the addition of a women's flag football program, which will begin competition in the 2026–2027 academic year as the college's 15th varsity sport.
Wrestling
The Menlo women's wrestling team became the first team to win a national championship for Menlo College in 2019, as well as earn its second title. On February 9, 2019, the team was crowned WCWA Women's Wrestling National Champion. Then, on March 6, 2019, the team claimed the NAIA Women's Wrestling National Invitational title.
Football
Originally a junior college program, the Menlo Oaks football team played at the four-year level from 1986 to 2014.
Three Menlo football players have played in the NFL: Burt Delavan, Nate Jackson, and Kaulana Park.
From 2006 to 2010, Menlo played in the Northwest Conference (NWC), an NCAA Division III athletic conference. From 2011 to 2014, Menlo was an NAIA independent school.
On February 1, 2015, the Menlo Board of Trustees voted to end the college's football program and cited financial viability issues as a major reason.
Notable people
Alumni
Al-Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, Saudi businessman, investor, philanthropist, and member of the Saudi royal family
Faisal bin Abdullah Al Saud, former Saudi education minister (2009–2013)
Mohammed bin Faisal Al Saud, Saudi businessman
Danny Castillo, college wrestler and professional mixed martial artist
Bruce Edwards, actor
Josh Emmett, professional mixed martial artist
James Espaldon, Guamanian politician
Carla Esparza (née: O'Connell), professional mixed martial artist and repeat champion (2022)
Ashlee Evans-Smith, professional mixed martial artist
Steve Gonzalez, professional football player
Dan Gurney, race car driver and builder
Patty Hearst, newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber
Nate Jackson, professional football player
Nathaniel Lepani, professional soccer player
Penelope Ann Miller, actress
John Pritzker, billionaire and investor and member of the Pritzker family
John Senior founder of Heroes Welcome UK and first Territorial Army soldier deployed to Afghanistan
Faculty
Melissa R. Michelson, Menlo College Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Political Science