About SSU

Located in California's premier wine country 40 miles north of San Francisco, Sonoma State is a small campus with big ideas. With a tradition of promoting intellectual and personal growth, leadership opportunities and technological proficiency, SSU offers its 8,500 students a friendly, safe and informal atmosphere on a beautiful campus setting of 269 richly-landscaped acres. Currently, campus housing accommodates 2,400 students in both apartment and residential suite style facilities.

The university also owns and operates the 411-acre Fairfield Osborn Preserve nearby and the 3,200 acre Galbreath Wildland Preserve in Mendocino County. Both offer major opportunities for research in the natural sciences rare for students.

One of the most requested campuses in the CSU system and regularly named a “Best Value” College by Princeton Review, SSU has also been named one of the “most wired” campuses in the nation by Forbes magazine. It is the only California university that is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, the prestigious group of 19 universities and colleges across the nation that are often described as the “Public Ivies.”

Founded in 1960 as a teacher education center for the North Bay, Sonoma State University is now a liberal arts and sciences university dedicated to providing high-quality undergraduate education and selected professional graduate programs. Dedicated to the liberal arts and sciences and known for its active use of technology., the SSU educational experience fosters intellectual, cognitive, social and personal growth. The faculty and staff of Sonoma State provide close mentoring relationships and an education that fosters ethical exploration, civic engagement, social responsibility, and global awareness combined with a solid foundation in an academic discipline.

Sonoma State University also serves as an educational and cultural resource for its region by offering courses, lectures, workshops and programs that are open to the public and by entering into partnerships with local businesses, industries, and cultural and educational institutions to enhance the quality of life in the North Bay and beyond.

As California's premier public undergraduate institution, SSU has a commitment to graduating students who have the ability to think critically and ethically and can effectively use information technology.

Academic Profile

The SSU educational experience fosters intellectual, cognitive, social and personal growth. The faculty and staff provide close mentoring relationships and an education that fosters ethical exploration, civic engagement, social responsibility, and global awareness combined with a solid foundation in an academic discipline. Many classes average fewer than 25 students, allowing close interaction between students and faculty.

SSU has a commitment to graduating students who have the ability to think critically and ethically and can effectively use information technology. There is a strong move to develop a global perspective in much of the curriculum to prepare students for the needs of the 21st century workplace.

Degree/Program Offerings

The university is comprised of six schools: Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, Education, Extended Education, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. Degrees are offered in 41 majors and 46 minors at the bachelor's level and 14 at the master's level. The university offers a joint master’s degree in mathematics with San Francisco State University and a joint doctorate in educational administration with California State University, Sacramento and the University of California, Davis. It also offers nine credential programs and eight undergraduate and graduate certificate programs. Sonoma State offers one of the only wine business programs in the country.

Learn more:
www.sonoma.edu