California State University - Stanislaus

The State Legislature established what was then known as Stanislaus State College in 1957. The first classes opened in September of 1960 in the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds. In 1965, the College moved to its permanent campus. It was awarded university status and renamed California State University, Stanislaus in 1985.

Residents of San Joaquin County gained access to public higher education when the University opened the Stockton Development Center on the campus of San Joaquin Delta College in 1974. In the fall of 1998, the Center, renamed CSU Stanislaus-Stockton Center, moved to its permanent site on Magnolia Avenue in downtown Stockton.

The University offers nearly 100 majors, minors, concentrations and teaching credentials, 19 master’s degree programs and five graduate certificate programs as well as pre-professional programs in law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physical therapy, veterinary medicine, optometry, laboratory technology, and medical laboratory technology. Students are encouraged to take courses to give them a broad understanding of the liberal arts and sciences in their first two years so they can make an informed choice of specialization.

The highly accessible faculty is renowned for teaching, research, and service. More than two-thirds of the faculty are full-time tenured or tenure-track. Eighty percent of full-time faculty hold doctorates or terminal degrees in their fields. There are 285 full-time and 210 part-time faculty.

The diverse student body includes many first-generation college students and working parents. The student body of 8,137 includes 6,424 undergraduate students and 1,713 graduate students (fall 2005). Average class size is 15 to 40.