San Francisco State University

Community service is a key feature of San Francisco State's programs. The school of about 26,000 undergrads and nearly 3,000 graduate students was one of the first universities in the U.S. to offer academic credit for community work, as well as one of the first to include community service learning hours on students' transcripts. Students can choose among about 300 public service-related courses in a wide variety of areas, including health care fields, education, and public administration. Bachelor's degrees are available in around 200 areas of study from the six different colleges; master's degrees range from business to the arts. SFU has two doctorates as well -- an Ed.D. and a Ph.D. in special education, offered jointly with UC-Berkeley. A unique offering at the school is its College of Ethnic Studies, which houses programs in Asian Studies, Africana Studies, Latina/Latino studies, and other disciplines. The school takes pride in its entertainment-oriented coursework, such as cinema, music, and writing, and counts an impressive number of Oscar, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize nominees among its alumni, including actors Annette Bening and Danny Glover. Two off-campus centers provide on-the-ground opportunities for field work: the Romburg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, which focuses on tidal marshes and estuarine habitat; and SFU's Sierra Nevada Field Campus, a site for classes and research in environmental subjects.