College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

San Jose State University

CALarge public institution · Overall rank #23 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks San Jose State University #23 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

The fit is clearest for a student who wants a large public campus in California and expects to work after the degree. Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study.

San Jose State University is a public university whose degree mix is led by Business and Engineering, and mobility is among the highest we track. Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the model attributes more of that to a remainder it does not explain than to the factors it measures.

Return is among the highest we track. The price case turns on income: the lowest band pays well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

Pell students complete at a rate well below the cohort as a whole, and access is well above average. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools, and the largest program, Business Administration and Management, is not the highest-earning program.

A student drawn to Business should go in knowing that the highest-earning fields are in Engineering and health.

SJSU at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
84.6%
Six-year completion[2]
69.2%
Four-year earnings[3]
$89,614

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$12,099
Median student debt[4]
$15,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$20,820

SJSU rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

San Jose State University is a public university in San Jose, California, enrolling 27,601 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (98th percentile).

The university admits 84.6% of applicants, a rate above the 78.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Of students who start full time, 86.8% return for a second year, and 69.2% finish within six years.

Both figures run above the peer medians of 83.1% and 65.0%. An estimated 44.5% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, and the six-year rate describes only the first-time, full-time cohort.

The four sit far apart. Mobility is the strongest, at the 98th percentile, and return is next at the 94th.

Affordability and access are the weaker two, at the 89th and 88th percentiles, though both still sit well above the middle of the field. The shape is a broad-access public campus where the strongest pillar and the weakest are separated by nearly ten points.

Azimuth ranks San Jose State University #23 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The university's strongest pillar is mobility, where it reaches the 98th percentile.

The return pillar sits in the 94th percentile, while affordability and access land in the 89th and 88th percentiles, respectively. Access is the weakest pillar, though its percentile remains high relative to nonprofit four-year institutions.

35.2% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, a measure of financial access that shows how much of the student body qualifies for federal need-based grant aid. Azimuth ranks San Jose State University #171 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The access pillar is shaped by that share and by the six-year completion rate those students reach relative to the overall entering cohort. Pell recipients complete at 38.4%, below the overall rate by 30.8 percentage points (69.2%).

That gap is what separates the two completion rates. Azimuth ranks the university #32 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The mobility pillar weighs financial access alongside the earnings that graduates report after completion. Graduates earn about $35,910 more than the model expects for similar students.

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

SJSU rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#23
California#12
West#13

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 98
Access & reach
National percentile: 88
Affordability
National percentile: 89
Return on investment
National percentile: 94

01 / SJSU briefing

SJSU cost & financial aid[6][7]

Aid recipients at San Jose State University pay an average net price of $13,760, a figure that is well under the published cost of attendance of $26,593 (an average). In-state tuition and fees are $8,410 and room and board is $20,971; out-of-state tuition and fees run $21,010.

Aid covers about 48% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, reducing the sticker price by $12,833. That net price is $1,874 below the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #152 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

San Jose State University publishes a cost of attendance of $26,593, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition is $8,410 and room and board is $20,971.

After aid, the average net price for families earning under $30,000 is $9,730. For families in the $48,001–$75,000 income band, the is $12,099, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $22,862.

Azimuth ranks the university #152 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Financial aid reduces the sticker price by an average of $12,833, bringing the average net price across all aid recipients to $13,760.

That figure is below the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,874. The published in-state tuition is $8,410, and out-of-state students face a tuition of $21,010.

The median federal student loan debt at completion is $15,000, with 59.5% of federal aid recipients borrowing. That median is below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions by $5,076.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $20,820. If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment for a graduate with the median federal debt is $170.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$12,099

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at SJSU

Borrowers who complete a degree at San Jose State University carry a median federal student debt of $15,000. That figure is below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $5,076.

Federal loans reach 59.5% of federal aid recipients. The median Parent PLUS loan, for a separate parent-borrower population, is $20,820.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 27% of 2,647 bachelor's graduates borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative amount of $18,371 per borrower. Of those graduates, 27% held federal loans averaging $16,613, and 2% of graduates held private loans averaging $33,035, with some graduates included in both groups.

Graduates of San Jose State University earn a median of $89,614 four years after completion, a figure that sits in the 94th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. They earn about $35,910 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome at the 99th percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the university's program mix, range from $48,911 in a downside case to $93,790 in an upside case, with $89,614 as the typical figure. On the borrowing side, median federal student debt at completion is $15,000, which is below the median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The estimated monthly payment if repaid over ten years is $170. Earnings land well above the model's expectation while federal borrowing sits below the peer median.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $20,820. 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
$20,820

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$170/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$265/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 / SJSU briefing

SJSU career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

San Jose State University reports median earnings of $89,614 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.
+$11,268
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$24,642
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$35,910

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

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / SJSU briefing

SJSU acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

San Jose State University admits 84.6% of applicants, a rate that sits above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university received 37,124 first-year applications, admitted 29,845, and enrolled 4,941.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
84.6%
25th percentile
1010
Median
1160
75th percentile
1270

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / SJSU briefing

What are the largest majors at SJSU?[12]

The largest program records at San Jose State University, by reported degrees awarded, are: Business Administration, Management and Operations (1,710 awards); Psychology, General (582 awards); Communication and Media Studies (309 awards); Computer Science (288 awards); Public Health (249 awards). These counts describe degree output in the source reporting period, not current enrollment or unique people.

The larger program records do not supply four-year earnings values. Their award counts support a comparison of size, but older earnings values should not be relabeled as four-year results.

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.

Read the full majors brief

05 / SJSU briefing

How does SJSU serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth ranks San Jose State University #32 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the mobility pillar in the 98th percentile.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 69.2%, while Pell recipients complete at a rate of 38.4% — a figure that sits below the overall rate by 30.8 percentage points. Graduates earn about $35,910 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that lands in the 99th percentile nationally.

Azimuth places the access pillar of San Jose State University in the 88th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 84.6% of applicants and enrolls 27,601 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients account for 35.2% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 44.5% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / SJSU briefing

What colleges are similar to SJSU?[15]

The comparisons for San Jose State University cover higher reported admission rates, similar admissions profiles, 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 SJSU.

Admissions peerSaint Mary's College of California86.5% admitted
Comparison with SJSU
MeasureSJSUSaint Mary's College of California
Peer earnings · 4 years$89,614$74,325-$15,289 vs SJSU
Average annual net price$13,760$30,378+$16,618 vs SJSU · higher cost
Admission rate84.6%86.5%
Higher-admission alternativeOregon Institute of Technology95.0% admitted
Comparison with SJSU
MeasureSJSUOregon Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$89,614$87,138-$2,476 vs SJSU
Average annual net price$13,760$15,706+$1,946 vs SJSU · higher cost
Admission rate84.6%95.0%
Explore Oregon Institute of Technology →
Nearby alternativeUniversity of San FranciscoNearby option · CA
Comparison with SJSU
MeasureSJSUUniversity of San Francisco
Peer earnings · 4 years$89,614$91,483+$1,869 vs SJSU
Average annual net price$13,760$41,431+$27,671 vs SJSU · higher cost
Admission rate84.6%61.7%
Explore University of San Francisco →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Bernard M Baruch College$3,033 average net price
Comparison with SJSU
MeasureSJSUCUNY Bernard M Baruch College
Peer earnings · 4 years$89,614$82,748-$6,866 vs SJSU
Average annual net price$13,760$3,033-$10,727 vs SJSU · lower cost
Admission rate84.6%47.5%
Explore CUNY Bernard M Baruch College →
Similar profileCalifornia Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoMatched across several measures
Comparison with SJSU
MeasureSJSUCalifornia Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
Peer earnings · 4 years$89,614$90,662+$1,048 vs SJSU
Average annual net price$13,760$16,665+$2,905 vs SJSU · higher cost
Admission rate84.6%31.3%
Explore California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo →

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 Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

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.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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 uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. 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

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. 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

  15. 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