California State University

California State University. Known as Cal State or CSU, a public university system in California. This is the largest public university system in the United States.

It consists of 23 campuses and seven off-campus centers, which together enroll 457,992 students and employ 56,256 faculty and staff members. In California, it is one of the three public higher education systems, along with the University of California and the California Community Colleges systems. The CSU system is officially incorporated as The Trustees of the California State University, and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.

Established in 1960 as part of the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the CSU system has its roots in the California State Normal Schools that were chartered in 1857. It holds the distinction of being the leading producer of bachelor’s degrees in the country, with over 110,000 graduates each year. Additionally, the CSU system contributes to the state’s economy by sustaining more than 209,000 jobs.

In the 2015–16 academic year, CSU awarded 52% of newly issued California teaching credentials, 33% of the state’s information technology bachelor’s degrees, and it had more graduates in business, criminal justice, engineering, public administration, and agriculture than all other colleges and universities in California combined.

Altogether, about half of the bachelor’s degrees, one-fourth of the master’s degrees, and 3% of the doctoral degrees awarded annually in California are from the CSU. Additionally, 62% of all bachelor’s degrees granted to Hispanic students in California and over half of bachelor’s degrees earned by California’s Latino, African American and Native American students combined are conferred by the CSU.

The CSU system is one of the top U.S. producers of graduates who move on to earn their PhD degrees in a related field.

Since 1961, over four million alumni have received a degree from the CSU system. CSU offers more than 1,800 degree programs in some 240 subject areas. In fall of 2022, 11,181 (or 40%) of CSU’s 27,741 faculty were tenured or on the tenure track.