Sac State vs CSU San Marcos

California State University-Sacramento (CSUS) and California State University-San Marcos (CSUSM) are two distinct universities within the California State University system, each offering unique educational experiences. CSUS, located in the vibrant capital city of Sacramento, boasts a higher acceptance rate and a larger student body, while CSUSM, situated in the charming city of San Marcos, offers a more intimate learning environment with smaller class sizes. Both universities excel in different areas, with CSUS excelling in fields like business, engineering, and nursing, and CSUSM excelling in fields like criminal justice, psychology, and interdisciplinary studies. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to delve into further details about these universities, including their acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, graduation rates, and more, to help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey.

	California State University-Sacramento	California State University-San Marcos
Overview
Location	Sacramento, California	San Marcos, California
Campus setting	City: Large	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	81.0%	79.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	93.7%	93.3%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	22,706	13,986
Total number of admissions given out	21,272	13,049
Admitted students who chose to enroll	3,581	2,413
Yield rate	16.8%	18.5%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $31,488 Out of state: $43,368	In state: $22,366 Out of state: $34,246
Average net price	$7,778	$14,296
Tuition	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,744 Meal plan: $5,030
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	80.0% Average amount $9,769	70.0% Average amount $9,298
Students receiving federal student loan	18.0% Average amount $4,607	22.0% Average amount $4,734
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $12,368	1.0% Average amount $12,988

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	29,451 Men 42.8% Women 57.2%	14,963 Men 38.4% Women 61.6%
Graduate students	3,047 Men 32.9% Women 67.1%	1,292 Men 28.4% Women 71.6%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	1.6%	1.5%
International students	4.0%	3.4%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	2,173	1,547
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Washington Arizona Hawaii Alaska	California Colorado Washington Virginia Arizona

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Engineering Education Social Sciences Computer and Information Science	Business Health Professions Biological and Biomedical Sciences Computer and Information Science Kinesiology & Leisure Studies
Students to faculty ratio	25:1	25:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	57.5%	59.2%
Dropout rate	32.1%	33.6%
Transferred out	3.8%	2.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $105,852 Year 2: $108,495 Year 3: $114,088 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $84,797 Year 2: $90,412 Year 3: $101,346 Construction Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $81,148 Year 2: $80,779 Year 3: $91,338 Civil Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $76,787 Year 2: $80,022 Year 3: $90,507 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $83,004 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $89,399 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $69,951 Year 2: $78,343 Year 3: $85,246 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $73,130 Year 2: $70,596 Year 3: $82,173 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $71,865 Year 2: $73,739 Year 3: $81,304 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $62,510 Year 2: $67,240 Year 3: $80,353 Civil Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $66,158 Year 2: $64,406 Year 3: $73,910	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $107,746 Year 2: $103,555 Year 3: $111,324 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $90,827 Year 2: $88,074 Year 3: $90,666 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $72,843 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $83,791 Special Education and Teaching (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $66,941 Year 3: $72,765 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,962 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $71,818 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $71,769 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $68,571 Physics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $65,899 Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $45,297 Year 2: $49,520 Year 3: $62,797 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,252 Year 2: $55,286 Year 3: $59,957 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $45,864 Year 3: $57,022

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