by our College Data Analytics TeamCollege of San Mateo is a public institution in San Mateo, California enrolling 7,977 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 61%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #732 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 14%), 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.
College of San Mateo ranks #732 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 14%.
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.
College of San Mateo was awarded 690 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked CSM as #732 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, CSM holds the #93 spot on the Best Colleges in California ranking.
See all of the rankings for College of San Mateo.
Learn more about College of San Mateo admissions.
At College of San Mateo, the student to faculty ratio is 24 to 1. Compared to the national average of 15 to 1, this is somewhat high. This could mean that class sizes may be larger than they are at other colleges or universities or that professors may be required to teach more classes.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at College of San Mateo is 41%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at College of San Mateo is 73%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at CSM for first-time, full-time students is 61%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at College of San Mateo.
During the most recent academic year, there were 7,977 undergraduates at CSM.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at College of San Mateo.
The average net price of CSM is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. 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 CSM, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At CSM, approximately 1% of students took out student loans averaging $6,494 a year. That adds up to $25,976 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 8.5%. 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 College of San Mateo.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from College of San Mateo make about $54,172 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That’s great news for College of San Mateo students since it is 10% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at College of San Mateo make the most money.
College of San Mateo is an public institution situated in San Mateo, California. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of College of San Mateo.
Contact information for College of San Mateo are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1700 W Hillsdale Blvd, San Mateo, CA 94402-3784 |
| Phone: | 6505746161 |
| Website: | www.collegeofsanmateo.edu |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 28 majors graduated from College of San Mateo. 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 | 1,242 | NA |
| General Social Sciences | 183 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 128 | NA |
| General Psychology | 83 | NA |
| Economics | 72 | NA |
| Cosmetology | 61 | NA |
| Communication & Media Studies | 59 | NA |
| Mathematics | 59 | NA |
| Criminal Justice & Corrections | 48 | NA |
| Nursing | 47 | $56,787 |
7,089 students took at least one online class at College of San Mateo.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at College of San Mateo.
Curious how schools stack up against CSM? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
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
More about our data sources and methodologies.