How this school serves students from different economic backgrounds, including Pell students, first-generation pathways, and long-term mobility outcomes.
San Francisco State University admits 96.4% of applicants, making it broadly accessible by design. Among enrolled undergraduates, 42.2% receive Pell Grants and 48.2% are first-generation college students — figures that reflect the university's deep roots in serving working-class and immigrant families across the Bay Area. Transfer enrollment is substantial at 52.4%, underscoring SF State's role as a destination for students who begin their academic paths at community colleges before continuing at a four-year institution. Azimuth ranks San Francisco State University #179 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The graduation rate tells a more complicated story. The six-year completion rate is 50.4%, with 66.2% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a gap that reflects the structural challenges many students face when balancing work, family, and coursework in one of the country's most expensive cities. For low-income graduates who do complete, median earnings reach $54,000 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 79.2 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks San Francisco State University #45 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes at scale explores, the mobility ranking reflects both how many students SF State serves from low-income backgrounds and what those students earn — a combination that positions the university as a meaningful, if imperfect, engine of economic opportunity in the Bay Area.
San Francisco State University admits 96.4% of applicants, making it broadly accessible by design. Among enrolled undergraduates, 42.2% receive Pell Grants and 48.2% are first-generation college students — figures that reflect the university's deep roots in serving working-class and immigrant families across the Bay Area. Transfer enrollment is substantial at 52.4%, underscoring SF State's role as a destination for students who begin their academic paths at community colleges before continuing at a four-year institution. Azimuth ranks San Francisco State University #179 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The graduation rate tells a more complicated story. The six-year completion rate is 50.4%, with 66.2% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a gap that reflects the structural challenges many students face when balancing work, family, and coursework in one of the country's most expensive cities. For low-income graduates who do complete, median earnings reach $54,000 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 79.2 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks San Francisco State University #45 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes at scale explores, the mobility ranking reflects both how many students SF State serves from low-income backgrounds and what those students earn — a combination that positions the university as a meaningful, if imperfect, engine of economic opportunity in the Bay Area.
San Francisco State University admits 96.4% of applicants, making it broadly accessible by design. Among enrolled undergraduates, 42.2% receive Pell Grants and 48.2% are first-generation college students — figures that reflect the university's deep roots in serving working-class and immigrant families across the Bay Area. Transfer enrollment is substantial at 52.4%, underscoring SF State's role as a destination for students who begin their academic paths at community colleges before continuing at a four-year institution. Azimuth ranks San Francisco State University #179 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The graduation rate tells a more complicated story. The six-year completion rate is 50.4%, with 66.2% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a gap that reflects the structural challenges many students face when balancing work, family, and coursework in one of the country's most expensive cities. For low-income graduates who do complete, median earnings reach $54,000 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 79.2 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks San Francisco State University #45 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes at scale explores, the mobility ranking reflects both how many students SF State serves from low-income backgrounds and what those students earn — a combination that positions the university as a meaningful, if imperfect, engine of economic opportunity in the Bay Area.
