A guide to CSU Stanislaus

California State University, sometimes referred to as Cal State Stanislaus or, more colloquially, Stan State is a public, four-year university located in the American state of California. Consistently rated as one of the USA's best public universities by a variety of agencies, it is a part of the California State University, a 23-campus system which stretches across the state, serving around 400,000 students.

History & location

CSU Stanislaus was founded in 1957, when the California state legislature established what was then known as Stanislaus State College. The Stanislaus County Fairgrounds hosted the new college's first classes in the September, 1960. By 1965, the college had moved to more salubrious surroundings in the shape of its permanent campus. The year of 1985 saw the college awarded university status, in a year in which it was also re-named as California State University, Stanislaus. The college opened a facility in Stockton, California in 1974. Known originally as the Stockton Development Centre, it was initially sited on the campus of San Joaquin Delta College and opened in 1974. By autumn 1998, the Development Centre had been renamed CSU Stanislaus-Stockton Centre and had moved to its current location on Magnolia Avenue in downtown Stockton. The university's main campus is located in California’s Central Valley, and is surrounded by some attractive countryside. It is not far from San Francisco, Sacramento, Big Sur or the attractions of the Sierra Madre mountains. The 228-acre campus is situated in the City of Turlock, a low-crime town with a population of around 70,000, according to recent census statistics.

Learning & lifestyle

Students at CSU Stanislaus are offered an academic choice of 100 majors, minors, concentrations and teaching credentials, as well as 24 master's degree programs and six graduate certificate programs. Additionally, an executive MBA and a doctoral degree program in educational leadership are also available. There is a teaching faculty of 265 full-time staff, supported by another 178 part-time staff. More then four-fifths of these teaching staff hold doctorates or terminal degrees in their chosen subject specialisms. Over eighty percent of full time faculty hold doctorates or terminal degrees in their fields. There are 265 full time and 178 part time faculty. In autumn 2010, according to the college's own figures, there were 8,305 students enrolled in total, with 6,972 of these being undergraduates and 1,333 graduate students.