by our College Data Analytics TeamCalifornia State University-Monterey Bay is a public institution in Seaside, California enrolling 6,819 undergraduates. It accepts 97% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 59%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #309 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 6%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
California State University-Monterey Bay ranks #309 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 6%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
California State University-Monterey Bay was awarded 177 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked CSUMB as #309 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation.
CSUMB also holds the #59 spot on the Best Colleges in California ranking.
See all of the rankings for California State University-Monterey Bay.
With an acceptance rate of 97%, California State University-Monterey Bay 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-Monterey Bay admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at California State University-Monterey Bay is 24 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.
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at California State University-Monterey Bay is 51%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 80% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like California State University-Monterey Bay enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at CSUMB for first-time, full-time students is 59%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at California State University-Monterey Bay.
In the current academic year, there are 6,819 undergraduates at CSUMB.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at California State University-Monterey Bay.
The typical net cost at CSUMB is $17,140. 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.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $9,970 | $9,981 | $12,440 | $16,281 | $22,818 |
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 CSUMB, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At CSUMB, approximately 28% of students took out student loans averaging $5,030 a year. That adds up to $20,120 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 5.9%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for California State University-Monterey Bay.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from California State University-Monterey Bay make around $59,247 per year during the early years of their employment. This is good news for future California State University-Monterey Bay graduates since it is 20% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at California State University-Monterey Bay make the most money.
California State University-Monterey Bay is a public institution found in Seaside, California. Seaside is considered a suburb and offers tranquility and safety near the excitement of a city center. Get more details about the location of California State University-Monterey Bay.
Contact details for California State University-Monterey Bay are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 100 Campus Center, Seaside, CA 93955-8001 |
| Phone: | 8315823000 |
| Website: | www.csumb.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_University,_Monterey_Bay |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/CSUMB |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/csumb |
In the latest year of available data, students from 20 majors graduated from California State University-Monterey Bay. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 2,053 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 357 | $55,914 |
| General Psychology | 232 | $28,861 |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 228 | $29,259 |
| Computer Science | 217 | $59,412 |
| Marine Science | 115 | $27,607 |
| Health & Physical Education | 106 | $26,320 |
| General Biology | 94 | $31,700 |
| Natural Resources Conservation | 89 | $28,908 |
| Nursing | 78 | $109,260 |
3,693 students took at least one online class at California State University-Monterey Bay.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at California State University-Monterey Bay.
Interested in comparing CSUMB? Compare them side by side using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
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.
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