Fremont is known for its highly educated population where close to 50% of adults hold a bachelors, graduate, or professional degree. Even more well-known are the universities that surround its 30-mile radius — University of California at Berkeley, San Jose State University, and Stanford University.

However, less well known are the institutions of Higher Ed within Fremont’s city limits: Ohlone College, Devry University, Unitek College, and Northwestern Polytechnic University.  In fact, you could go so far as to call them a well-kept secret.

We’ve visited all four schools, and have interesting tidbits about each.  With their unique niches, we suspect they won’t be secret for long.

Ohlone College:

Named for the native population living in the area when Mission San Jose was founded, Ohlone College serves 18,000 students a year.  Ohlone hosts the Northern California Bay Area Biotechnology Center, an education program focused on Biotechnology.  This  program bridges the gap between education and job training for the life sciences industry.

DeVry University:

DeVry University’s Fremont campus is located in the heart of the City’s life science cluster in Ardenwood. The campus offers wifi-enabled classrooms, a full-service research library, a fully wired computer lab, and a residential hall. DeVry’s Fremont campus has close affiliations with companies nearby and students can also take classes in Daly City, San Jose, or online!

Unitek College:

Unitek College caters professional healthcare training and business education programs.  You can become an LVN or RN, get your Microsoft certification, or become an EMT.  Unitek is one of the only places in the nation where you can obtain an accelerated 14-Day certificate as an Emergency Medical Technician.  Their large Fremont campus features modern classrooms and well equipped nursing and computer labs.

Northwestern Polytechnic University (NPU):

With the slogan “Turning Silicon Valley dreams into High-Tech Realities” NPU has been doing just that for a largely international student body.  NPU is laser focused on engineering, computer science, and business administration and offers bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees.  The NPU campus is in the heart of Warm Springs and  has close connections with high-tech Silicon Valley companies who supply many of their instructors.  Impressively, NPU had an 88% job placement rate in 2011!

With so many higher education institutions to choose from, Fremont residents can access life-long learning and career development opportunities while Fremont companies can hire highly-skilled employees locally.  This is a win-win proposition for everyone.