Research brief & institution hub

California State University-Sacramento

CALarge public institution · Overall rank #10 nationally

Data snapshot September 27, 2026Updated October 21, 2026

Azimuth ranks California State University-Sacramento #10 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

California State University-Sacramento is a public university in Sacramento, California, whose degree mix is led by Business, Social Sciences, and Health Professions. Mobility is among the highest we track, and most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes more of that to the factors it measures — field of study, enrollment and the local labor market — than to what it cannot explain.

Return is above average, the weakest of the four , while the typical graduate earns below the median at comparable schools. Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish at a rate above the overall completion rate, and access is among the highest we track.

Affordability is among the highest we track, and the net price for the lowest income band sits well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools, and the program mix leans toward professional fields: the largest program is Business Administration and Management, while the highest-earning is Nursing.

A student drawn to the social sciences should go in knowing that the largest departments are not the best-paid ones.

Sac State at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate^[1]: 94.0%
Six-year completion^[2]: 56.3%
Four-year earnings^[3]: $64,511

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income^[6]: $9,212
Median student debt^[4]: $15,000
Median Parent PLUS debt^[7]: $16,507

Sac State rankings: how Azimuth assesses value^[5]

California State University-Sacramento is a public university in Sacramento, California, enrolling 28,350 undergraduates. Its composite standing is near the very top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (99th percentile).

The university admits 94.0% of applicants, a rate well above the 78.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Of students who start full time, 81.9% return for a second year and 56.3% finish within six years.

The medians for comparable institutions are 83.1% for retention and 65.0% for completion. An estimated 53.5% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes a minority of the student body.

The shape is a broad-access public campus where mobility is the strongest pillar and return is the weakest. Access and affordability sit between them, with access at the 93rd percentile and affordability at the 95th percentile, so the four pillars are spread across a wide range.

Azimuth ranks California State University-Sacramento #10 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The composite shows a 99th percentile mobility pillar, a 93rd percentile access pillar, and a 95th percentile affordability pillar, alongside a 72nd percentile return pillar. Mobility is the strongest pillar, and return is the weakest.

49.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. Those students complete at 63.8%, a rate that sits 7.5 percentage points above the overall six-year graduation rate (56.3%) for the entering cohort.

That completion advantage for Pell students is the central fact shaping the access pillar here. Azimuth ranks California State University-Sacramento #103 for access among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions.

The access pillar rests on the share of students receiving Pell Grants and on how those students progress through to completion. Azimuth ranks the university #5 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $14,073 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Sac State rankings in context
Geography	Rank
National	#10
California	#7
West	#7

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility: National percentile: 99

Access & reach: National percentile: 93

Affordability: National percentile: 95

Return on investment: National percentile: 72

Top-ranked majors

Geography and Cartography#2
Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General#4
Interior Architecture#5

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Sac State briefing

Sac State cost & financial aid^[6]^[7]

California State University-Sacramento lists a published cost of attendance of $22,945. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $6,838 and required fees of $2,818 for the 2026-27 academic year, with on-campus food and housing at $20,212.

Nonresidents face a published tuition of $20,968. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $9,338.

That is $6,296 below the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Financial aid reduces the published cost by $13,607 on average.

Azimuth ranks the university #67 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance is $22,945, and the average aid recipient pays considerably less. Azimuth ranks California State University-Sacramento #67 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $6,501, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $9,212, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $18,861. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $12,360.

Grants and scholarships lower the sticker price by an average of $13,607 for aid recipients. The for first-time full-time aid recipients is $9,338, which is $6,296 below the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

About 53.2% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Borrowers who finish carry a median of $15,000 in federal student loans, which is $5,076 below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $16,507 in Parent PLUS loans. If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $170 a month. It estimates what a family at your income level might pay and borrow here.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$9,212

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Sac State

Federal borrowing is common at California State University-Sacramento: 53.2% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Among borrowers who complete, the median federal student debt is $15,000.

That median is $5,076 below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size). Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $16,507 in Parent PLUS loans.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 34% of graduates borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative debt of $17,459 per borrower. Federal loans accounted for most of that, including 34% of graduates with federal loans averaging $16,606. A smaller share, 2%, held private loans, averaging $20,921.

Graduates of California State University-Sacramento earn about $14,073 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 90th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The median earnings four years after completion stand at $64,511, which is in the 64th percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios based on the university's program mix show a typical earnings level of $64,511, with a downside scenario of $52,979 and an upside scenario reaching $92,083. Borrowers complete their degrees with a median federal debt of $15,000, which is below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt yields an estimated monthly payment of $170.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $16,507. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $170.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt: $15,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt: $16,507

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly: $170/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly: $210/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS

Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Sac State briefing

Sac State career outcomes & earnings^[3]^[8]^[9]

California State University-Sacramento reports median earnings of $64,511 four years after completion. That institution-wide figure is a starting point; results for particular fields can differ.

Read earnings alongside retention and completion. Earnings among completers do not include every student who entered the institution, while the lower and higher planning estimates describe modeled mixes of program outcomes rather than observed salary percentiles.

What explains value-added earnings?

Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.: +$8,479
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.: +$5,594
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.: +$14,073

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Sac State briefing

What are the largest majors at Sac State?^[12]

The largest program records at California State University-Sacramento, by reported degrees awarded, are: Business Administration, Management and Operations (935 awards); Psychology, General (607 awards); Criminal Justice and Corrections (568 awards); Communication and Media Studies (448 awards); Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (436 awards). These counts describe degree output in the source reporting period, not current enrollment or unique people.

Among those larger programs, reported median earnings four years after completion include Business Administration, Management and Operations at $67,636; Psychology, General at $53,237; Criminal Justice and Corrections at $62,583. Program size and earnings answer different questions; the largest program need not have the highest earnings.

Keep individual program records separate from broader degree categories and from records for other reporting periods. Those views can describe different parts of the university’s academic mix.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields

Business Administration, Management and Operations 935 degrees awarded: $67,636
Psychology, General 607 degrees awarded: $53,237
Criminal Justice and Corrections 568 degrees awarded: $62,583
Communication and Media Studies 448 degrees awarded: $59,404
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 436 degrees awarded: Too few graduates to report
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 301 degrees awarded: $59,142

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Sac State briefing

How does Sac State serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth ranks California State University-Sacramento #5 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the mobility pillar in the 99th percentile.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 56.3%, while Pell recipients complete at a rate of 63.8% — above the overall rate by 7.5 percentage points. Graduates earn about $14,073 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 90th percentile nationally.

Azimuth places the access pillar of California State University-Sacramento in the 93rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 94.0% of applicants, well above the peer median of 78.1%, and enrolls 28,350 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients account for 49.1% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 53.5% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / Sac State briefing

What colleges are similar to Sac State?^[15]

The comparisons for California State University-Sacramento cover similar admissions profiles, higher reported earnings at similar cost, lower reported cost with similar earnings and options in the same state or region. The similar-schools brief keeps these questions in separate groups, with related institutional profiles shown as another comparison.

Each group has its own candidate list and ordering. A high position within one group is not a rank against all the schools in the other groups, and a school can appear more than once for different reasons. Check the source definition and earnings period for the comparison you choose.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Sac State.

Admissions peerCalifornia State University-Chico92.7% admitted

Comparison with Sac State
Measure	Sac State	California State University-Chico
Peer earnings · 4 years	$64,511	$65,228+$717 vs Sac State
Average annual net price	$9,338	$14,480+$5,142 vs Sac State · higher cost
Admission rate	94.0%	92.7%

Explore California State University-Chico →

Nearby alternativeCalifornia State University-ChicoNearby option · CA

Comparison with Sac State
Measure	Sac State	California State University-Chico
Peer earnings · 4 years	$64,511	$65,228+$717 vs Sac State
Average annual net price	$9,338	$14,480+$5,142 vs Sac State · higher cost
Admission rate	94.0%	92.7%

Explore California State University-Chico →

Higher-earnings alternativeCalifornia State University-East Bay$72,596 earnings

Comparison with Sac State
Measure	Sac State	California State University-East Bay
Peer earnings · 4 years	$64,511	$72,596+$8,085 vs Sac State
Average annual net price	$9,338	$9,320-$18 vs Sac State · lower cost
Admission rate	94.0%	97.4%

Explore California State University-East Bay →

Lower-cost alternativeCalifornia State University-Stanislaus$6,067 average net price

Comparison with Sac State
Measure	Sac State	California State University-Stanislaus
Peer earnings · 4 years	$64,511	$58,952-$5,559 vs Sac State
Average annual net price	$9,338	$6,067-$3,271 vs Sac State · lower cost
Admission rate	94.0%	98.1%

Explore California State University-Stanislaus →

Similar profileUniversity of California-RiversideMatched across several measures

Comparison with Sac State
Measure	Sac State	University of California-Riverside
Peer earnings · 4 years	$64,511	$64,926+$415 vs Sac State
Average annual net price	$9,338	$14,304+$4,966 vs Sac State · higher cost
Admission rate	94.0%	76.4%

Explore University of California-Riverside →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated September 27, 2026Governed hub narrative September 30, 2026Governed spoke corpus September 30, 2026

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.
Source fields: ADM_RATE
Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.
Source fields: C150_4
Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.
Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.
Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN
National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.
Source fields: Azimuth rankings
College Azimuth · Ranking methodology
Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.
Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV
Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.
Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations
College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology
Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.
Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios
College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology
Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.
Source fields: Azimuth statistical model
College Azimuth · Value-added methodology
SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.
Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG
First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.
Source fields: RET_FT4
Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.
Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE
College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation
Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.
Source fields: PCTPELL
Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.
Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF
Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.
Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings