by our College Data Analytics TeamSan Diego State University is a public institution in San Diego, California enrolling 35,377 undergraduates. It accepts 36% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 76%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #83 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 2%), 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.
San Diego State University ranks #83 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 2%.
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.
San Diego State University was awarded 870 badges in the 2027 rankings.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, SDSU is ranked #83 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
SDSU is also ranked #18 on the Best Colleges in California list.
See all of the rankings for San Diego State University.
San Diego State University has an acceptance rate of 36%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for SDSU.
Learn more about San Diego State University admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at San Diego State University is 27 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.
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 San Diego State University is 50%. This is comparable to the national average of 47%.
San Diego State University has a freshmen retention rate of 91%. 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.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at SDSU for first-time, full-time students is 76%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at San Diego State University.
The current enrollment includes 35,377 undergraduates at SDSU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at San Diego State University.
The overall average net price of SDSU 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $9,910 | $10,017 | $12,697 | $15,891 | $23,821 |
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 SDSU, 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 SDSU, approximately 23% of students took out student loans averaging $6,497 a year. That adds up to $25,988 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 4.2%. 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 San Diego State University.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University make about $64,909 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future San Diego State University graduates since it is 32% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at San Diego State University make the most money.
San Diego State University is an public institution located in San Diego, California. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of San Diego State University.
Contact information for San Diego State University can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182-0001 |
| Phone: | 6195945200 |
| Website: | www.sdsu.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_State_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/SanDiegoState |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/sdsu |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 26 majors graduated from San Diego State University. 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 | 11,540 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 2,449 | $43,181 |
| General Psychology | 784 | $26,044 |
| Criminal Justice & Corrections | 560 | $31,547 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 450 | $37,837 |
| Health & Physical Education | 391 | $24,520 |
| Computer Science | 371 | $62,997 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 368 | $34,509 |
| Fine & Studio Arts | 339 | $22,994 |
| Public Health | 297 | $53,580 |
22,173 students took at least one online class at San Diego State University.
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 San Diego State University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to SDSU? Pit them head to head with 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.
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