“Vox Veritas Vita”
“Voice Truth Life” (Speak the truth as a way of life)
The California State University (CSU) est. 1857 is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state.
CSU prepares about 60% of the teachers in the state, 40% of the engineering graduates, and more graduates in business, agriculture, communications, health, education and public administration than all other California universities and colleges combined. Altogether, about half the bachelor’s degrees and a third of the masters degrees awarded annually in California are from the CSU.
Since 1961 nearly 2.5 million alumni have received a bachelors, masters or doctoral degree from the university system. CSU offers more than 1,800 degree programs in some 240 subject areas.
CSU at a Glimpse
The CSU is a leader in high-quality, accessible, student-focused higher education. With 23 campuses, almost 427,000 students, and 44,000 faculty and staff, it is the largest, the most diverse, and one of the most affordable university systems in the country. The university has a number of laboratories and observatories to carry out research and projects. Research facilities owned and operated by units of the CSU are Desert Studies Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Murillo Family Observatory, Southern California Marine Institute, Mount Laguna Observatory and T.S. Golden Bear which is the training ship of the California Maritime Academy.
The University of California and most of its campuses are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU).
ABET, Inc., (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), accredits post-secondary degree programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology. It is intended to certify the quality of these programs. The California State University has 17 ABET-accredited engineering colleges throughout California.
Statewide, the university offers a wide variety of programs that include Agricultural Research Initiative, Biotechnology, Hospitality Management, Nursing, Pre-doctoral program, Professional science master’s degree.
CSU schools, especially in more urban areas, have traditionally catered to the commuter, enrolling most of its students from the surrounding area. This has changed as CSU schools increase enrollment and some of the more prestigious urban campuses attract a wider demographic population.
CSU Ranking
In 2012, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo’s Engineering School was placed in the best top 10 engineering programs among all other American universities for Civil, Computer, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering.
California State University Long Beach was placed on the Best Engineering Grad Schools list by the U.S. News for 2012.