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🎓 College profile

San Diego State University

CA · Public · Large city · 82,800 applicants 2023

R2 Research
34% admit rate $23,821/yr at $110k+ income

🧭 A parent's read

  • The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing grads from here earn about $120,799 four years out; fine and studio arts grads about $35,416 — a 3.4× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 6× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$27,780/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$64,909/yr) still runs about 6× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

Get your child's odds at San Diego State University Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. San Diego State University starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Strong target

Selective but achievable for strong students. Affordable for in-state families — net price averages ~$15,364/yr. Major value play for in-state residents.

✅ Best for

  • Strong overall academic profile (avg admit unweighted GPA 3.82 per CDS — school is test-blind, so scores aren't part of the decision at all — the transcript carries the weight)
  • In-state residents (tuition ~$8,728 — major value play)
  • Students focused on Business, Management, & Marketing (the school's signature program)
  • Research-curious students (R2 — active research output)
  • Students who thrive in a large, programmatic environment

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: unweighted GPA below 3.62 (admitted-class quartiles per the school's own data)

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
R2: Doctoral - High Research Activity
Total enrollment
35,377
20,000 and above
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$8,728
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$21,328
+$12,600 vs in-state
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
34.4%
Selective
Test policyScores aren't considered at all, even if sent — the UCs are the big example. Grades and course rigor carry the weight.
Test-blind
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$64,909
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

🎓 Admitted-student GPA

3.84 average · 3.5–4 typical range

GPA (4.0 scale), enrolled first-year students (Fall 2024 (CDS 2024-25)). San Diego State is an impacted (selective) campus — admission is competitive and can vary sharply by major. Cal State is test-blind (no SAT/ACT in admissions), so the a–g GPA is the key academic signal. Source ↗

CSU first-year GPA — verified 2026-06-15 against the campus's official Common Data Set / admissions data. The GPA basis (a–g vs. weighted vs. 4.0-scale) differs from the unweighted GPA shown for private colleges.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$52,620
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$64,909
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
76%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$15,000

💰 The real cost

What families at your income actually pay

Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $23,821/yr at San Diego State University; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$27,780/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.

🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.

Start your Family Decision Report →

Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with San Diego State University's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
$23,821/yr
Family income $75-110k
$15,891/yr
Family income $48-75k
$12,697/yr
Family income $30-48k
$10,017/yr
Family income $0-30k
$9,910/yr

📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways

5.8× at full price 10.6× with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs, in-state)
$111,120
~$27,780/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$61,456
$15,364/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$649,090
$64,909/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
1.7 yrs
at full price (0.9 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at San Diego State University

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what San Diego State University actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Business, Management, & Marketing
2,159 degrees · 44.9%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
2. Engineering
771 degrees · 16.0%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
3. Social Sciences
700 degrees · 14.6%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
4. Psychology
630 degrees · 13.1%
Most undergrad psych grads go into non-clinical roles. Clinical/counseling psych requires a master's or doctoral.
5. Communication, Journalism, & Related
548 degrees · 11.4%
Media, PR, marketing communications. Salary spread is wide.

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — San Diego State University's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree 212 $100,221 $120,799
Computer Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 116 $76,812 $116,842
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 106 $75,061 $106,416
Computer Science. Bachelor's Degree 259 $74,523 $100,586
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician. Bachelor's Degree 39 $81,608 $100,564
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 70 $74,375 $100,139
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 244 $69,754 $97,825
Civil Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 227 $73,584 $95,865
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 38 $66,482 $88,417
Finance and Financial Management Services. Bachelor's Degree — $53,373 $88,136

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

📈 Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.

Top-1% access
1.9%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
3.7%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
40.8%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
32%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

🤖 AI program signal

AI + computing education at San Diego State University

CS degrees (annual)
269
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to San Diego State University

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
Tuskegee University
AL · Private nonprofit
3 stats-based merit scholarships
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville
TN · Public
2 stats-based merit scholarships
George Washington University
DC · Private nonprofit
2 competitive merit scholarships
💰 Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
Texas A & M International University
TX · Public
$15,558/yr full price (in-state) · $12,222 less before aid
North Carolina A & T State University
NC · Public
$20,427/yr full price (in-state) · $7,353 less before aid
Central State University
OH · Public
$21,929/yr full price (in-state) · $5,851 less before aid
🛡️ Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public
47% admit rate (vs 34% here)
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public
62% admit rate (vs 34% here)
University of California-Riverside
CA · Public
63% admit rate (vs 34% here)
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than San Diego State University does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
Texas A & M International University
TX · Public
8.1% mobility rate (vs 3.7% here)
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public
6.8% mobility rate (vs 3.7% here)
Tuskegee University
AL · Private nonprofit
5.2% mobility rate (vs 3.7% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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