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California State University-Chico Comprehensive Profile

91 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
93% Acceptance Rate

Find out more about how California State University-Chico ranks, how diverse it is, what majors it offers, and other essential facts below.

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* Rankings

How Well Is California State University-Chico Ranked?

#182 Best Colleges in Nation
#36 Best Colleges in CA
California State University-Chico ranking badge

2026 College Rankings

In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.

California State University-Chico was awarded 91 badges in the 2026 rankings.

Overall Quality

According to College Factual’s 2026 analysis, Chico State is ranked #182 out of 3,449 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.

Chico State is also ranked #36 on the Best Colleges in California list.

See all of the rankings for California State University-Chico.

What Are the Admission Requirements for California State University-Chico?

93% Acceptance Rate
93% Of Accepted Are Women

Acceptance Rate

With an acceptance rate of 93%, California State University-Chico is easier to get into than many other schools. But that doesn’t mean you can slack off on your application. Make sure to treat this school like any other when submitting requested materials and documents.

Learn more about California State University-Chico admissions.

Faculty at California State University-Chico

23 to 1 Student to Faculty
57% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at California State University-Chico is 23 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1. This may indicate that some of your classes will be larger in size than they would be at other schools. However, upper level classes will probably be smaller.

Full-Time Faculty Share

When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at California State University-Chico is 57%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  57 out of 100
0
100

Student Success Metrics for California State University-Chico

84% Freshmen Retention
64% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

California State University-Chico has a freshmen retention rate of 84%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  84 out of 100
0
100

Time to Degree

Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Chico State the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 64%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  64 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at California State University-Chico.

Student Demographics at California State University-Chico

13,057 Undergraduate Students
54.1% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
55.9% Percent Women

The current enrollment includes 13,057 undergraduates at Chico State.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at California State University-Chico.

How Much Does California State University-Chico Cost?

$16,772 Net Price
32% Take Out Loans
$22,376 Total Student Loans

The typical net cost at Chico State is $16,772. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.### Net Price by Income Group for Chico State

$0-30 K$30K-48K$48-75$75-110K$110K +
$10,045$10,612$13,937$18,380$23,572

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Chico State, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Borrowing and Loans

It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Chico State, approximately 32% of students took out student loans averaging $5,594 a year. That adds up to $22,376 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 6.1%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you’ll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for California State University-Chico.

How Much Money Do California State U-Chico Graduates Make?

$64,172 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost

The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from California State University-Chico make about $64,172 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That’s great news for California State University-Chico students since it is 30% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.

See which majors at California State University-Chico make the most money.

Location of California State University-Chico

California State
13,057 Undergraduate Students
Midsize City Campus Setting

California State University-Chico is a public institution situated in Chico, California. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of California State University-Chico.

Location of California State University-Chico

Get in touch with California State University-Chico are listed below.

Contact Details
Address:First and Normal Sts, Chico, CA 95929-0150
Phone:5308986116
Website:www.csuchico.edu
Facebook:www.facebook.com/californiastateuniversitychico
Twitter:twitter.com/chicostate

California State University-Chico Academic Programs

26 Majors With Completions
7,646 Undergraduate Degrees

In the most recent reporting year, students from 26 majors graduated from California State University-Chico. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular MajorsCompletionsAverage Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies3,823NA
Business Administration & Management576$48,303
General Psychology290$27,926
Liberal Arts General Studies204$21,120
Social Work174$45,285
Health & Physical Education171$23,129
Sociology168$31,487
Public Health130NA
Criminal Justice & Corrections123$33,845
Computer Science107$72,808

Learn more about the majors offered at California State University-Chico along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at Chico State

80% Take At Least One Class Online
16% Take All Classes Online

Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.

10,494 students took at least one online class at California State University-Chico.

Learn more about online learning at California State University-Chico.

Comparable CollegesInterested in comparing Chico State? Compare them side by side using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

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