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Overall Score: 76.3

California State University, Sacramento

Sacramento, CA http://www.csus.edu/
California State University, Sacramento, also known as Sacramento "Sac" State, is located on a beautiful 300-acre campus nestled just outside of California's capital. The Arbor Day Foundation has named it "Tree Campus USA" for several consecutive years, thanks to the 3,500 trees that cover the campus. Sac State offers 55 undergraduate majors within eight academic colleges. The most popular majors at Sac State are business administration, criminal justice and corrections, and communication and media studies. The college's criminal justice program is one of the largest in the nation, and often receives more applications than it can accept, making it a competitive major. The university has a fairly high admissions rate, accepting about 82% of applicants. The graduation rate of 65% is about 12% higher than expected based on colleges that enroll students of similar academic and economic backgrounds, and graduates can expect median early career earnings around $57,000. Sports aren't huge at Sac State, but the university offers 18 intercollegiate sports teams. Although it is a comparatively "young" campus – it was founded in 1947 – Sac State is rumored to have a haunted theater hall where a friendly spirit regularly disrupts play openings.

Costs

Est. full price 2022-2023
$28,600
% of students who get any grants
72%
Est. price for students who receive aid
$12,100
Average price for low-income students
$8,160

Admissions

Acceptance rate
82%
Median SAT/ACT score
1040/19
SAT/ACT required?
No
Undergraduate enrollment
28,720

Financial Aid

% of students with need who get grants
96%
% of need met
55%
% of students who get merit grants
N/A
Average merit grant
N/A

Student Success

Graduation rate
51%
Average time to a degree
4.9 years
Median student debt
$15,000
Early career earnings
$56,810
% earning more than a high school grad
76%

Notes: Students who get merit grants are full-time undergraduates who had no financial need and were awarded grants. Graduation rate measures degree completion within six years for both transfer students and first-time students. Early career earnings are the median earnings for both graduates and non-completers, 10 years after they first enrolled.

Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Peterson’s, Money/Witlytic calculations.

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