With more than 38,000 students, California State University, Northridge is known for being a rather large but fairly diverse community situated in the heart of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. The university offers about 150 undergraduate majors, including Chicano and Chicana studies, Deaf studies, interior design and criminology.
When not in class, students can take advantage of the Oasis Wellness Center, which offers nap pods, massages, guided meditation and even red light therapy. They can also do homework in the University Library — which has been featured in Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica — or join one of the more than 300 student organizations including the ceramics guild, competitive urban dance crew and women in animation collective.
Like much of the California State University system, the Northridge campus is a stand out for accessibility and economic mobility. More than 90% of applicants get in, and more than half of freshmen receive federal Pell Grants reserved for lower-income students. The university ranks in the top 10% for affordability of all the school’s Money analyzed. Plus, CSUN's graduation rate is more than 20% higher than expected based on the academic and economic backgrounds of the students enrolled, according to our analysis.
Prominent graduates from the university include singer Paula Abdul, actress Eva Longoria and singer-songwriter Andy Grammer.
