College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Sonoma State University

CAMedium public institution · Overall rank #199 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Sonoma State University #199 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Sonoma State University is a public university in Rohnert Park, California, where Business and the Social Sciences lead the degree mix. Mobility is well above average.

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.

Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study. Pell students complete at a rate slightly above the entering cohort as a whole.

The lowest income band pays well under the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it. The admission rate is above the median for comparable institutions, and the largest programs are not the best-paid ones.

A student drawn to Business or Psychology should know that Nursing and Engineering graduates earn considerably more, though those programs award far fewer degrees.

Sonoma State University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
93.4%
Six-year completion[2]
57.6%
Four-year earnings[3]
$65,997

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$10,741
Median student debt[4]
$16,705
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$27,986

Sonoma State University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Sonoma State University is a public university in Rohnert Park, California, enrolling 5,166 undergraduates. The composite standing is in the top fifth of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (86th percentile).

The university admits 93.4% of applicants, a rate above the 85.9% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Retention runs above the peer median: 79.2% return after the first year, against a peer median of 73.7%.

The six-year graduation rate is 57.6%, which also sits above the peer median of 49.1%. An estimated 48.8% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students.

The four sit in a tight cluster, with mobility the strongest at the 86th percentile and access the weakest at the 60th percentile. Affordability and return sit between them, at the 86th and 76th percentiles respectively.

The shape is a broad-access public campus where the pillars are close together, with mobility leading by a narrow margin.

Sonoma State University scores above the median on all four Azimuth pillars, with mobility and affordability leading the way. Mobility, the strongest pillar, sits in the 86th percentile, and affordability follows closely at the 86th percentile.

The return pillar lands in the 76th percentile, while access is the weakest pillar at the 60th percentile, closer to the middle of nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell Grants reach 35.9% of undergraduates at Sonoma State University, the financial-access measure that sits at the center of the access pillar. The six-year completion rate for Pell recipients is 59.1%, 1.5 percentage points above the overall cohort mark (57.6%).

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks the university #582 for access. Azimuth ranks Sonoma State University #205 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $10,523 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome measured four years after completion.

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

Sonoma State University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#199
California#36
West#50

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 86
Access & reach
National percentile: 60
Affordability
National percentile: 86
Return on investment
National percentile: 76

Top-ranked majors

  1. Education, Other#2
  2. Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies#4
  3. Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing#6

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 / Sonoma State University briefing

Sonoma State University cost & financial aid[6][7]

Sonoma State University publishes a cost of attendance of $24,648, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $8,624, and room and board are $16,802.

Out-of-state students pay $21,224 in tuition and fees. After grants and scholarships, the average net price—what aid recipients pay—is $12,885, a savings of $11,763 against the sticker price.

This sits below the peer median of $14,068 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,183. Azimuth ranks the university #198 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The affordability pillar sits in the 86th percentile, and the mobility pillar sits in the 86th percentile.

The published cost of attendance at Sonoma State University is $24,648 (an average across living arrangements). Azimuth ranks the university #198 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, aid recipients in the lowest family-income band (under $30,000) average $8,310, those in the middle band ($48,001–$75,000) average $10,741, and those in the highest band (over $110,000) average $21,195. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $12,885.

Aid covers about 48% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The average net price across all aid recipients is $12,885, which is $1,183 below the $14,068 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $16,705 in federal student loans. That is $4,524 below the $21,229 peer median.

About 74.0% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $27,986 in Parent PLUS loans.

If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $190 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$10,741

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Sonoma State University

Federal borrowing reaches 74.0% of federal aid recipients, and the debt load is lighter than peers. Borrowers who complete leave with a median of $16,705 in federal student loans, $4,524 below the $21,229 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, the median debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $190 a month. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $27,986 in Parent PLUS loans.

Graduates of Sonoma State University earn about $10,523 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 84th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The median earnings four years after completion is $65,997, which sits above the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $8,696.

That median lands in the 68th percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix show a downside scenario of $54,134 and an upside scenario of $88,922, with the typical scenario matching the median earnings figure.

Borrowers finish with a median federal debt of $16,705, which is below the $21,229 peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $190 a month if repaid over ten years.

Above-expected earnings and below-peer debt point the same way here: graduates tend to earn more than the model predicts while carrying less federal debt than graduates of comparable schools.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $27,986. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $190.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$16,705
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$27,986

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$190/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$356/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 / Sonoma State University briefing

Sonoma State University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $65,997, in the 68th percentile nationally. That is $8,696 above the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 76th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,523 more than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap at the 84th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,015.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $4,508. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $612.

Four years after graduating, Sonoma State University completers earn a median of $65,997, which is above the peer median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size). The earnings cohort includes 2,027 completers.

Graduates earn about $10,523 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that places the university in the 84th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix show a downside scenario of $54,134 and an upside scenario reaching $88,922, with the typical scenario matching the observed median.

An estimated 32.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. Earnings that beat the model's expectations and a median that sits above the peer benchmark point the same way for graduates.

Graduates of Sonoma State University earn about $10,523 more than the model expects for similar students. That places the university in the 84th percentile for earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,015. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $4,508.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $612. Median earnings four years after completion are $65,997, a figure in the 68th percentile nationally.

That puts the university above the peer median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $8,696. Azimuth ranks the university #358 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $54,134 and an upside of $88,922. The largest program, Business Administration and Management, awarded 421 degrees and shows median earnings of $75,887 four years after completion, earning an Azimuth national rank of #63 in its field.

Education is smaller at 130 degrees awarded, yet it carries the strongest national rank among the large programs at #2 and is ranked #1 in California. The highest-earning program is Nursing, where the 63 degrees awarded correspond to a median of $143,886, or 1.62x the national median for the field.

Nursing also stands out: with median earnings of $143,886 and a national rank of #6, its graduates earn 1.62x the field median.

Earnings four years after completion vary widely by field at Sonoma State University, a spread captured by three earnings scenarios: a downside of $54,134, a typical scenario of $65,997, and an upside of $88,922. The range reflects the mix of programs across the university's 24 fields with published data.

At the top of that range, Nursing completers earn a median of $143,886, while Electrical Engineering graduates reach $112,757 and Computer Science completers earn $106,181.

Graduates of Sonoma State University earn about $10,523 more than the model expects for similar students. The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $16,705, which is below the median of $21,229 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment on that debt is $190. The average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $12,885, which runs below the median of $14,068 for comparable institutions.

Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $27,986. Above-expected earnings coincide with a debt load that sits below the peer median.

A net price that is also below the peer median reinforces the picture: graduates tend to leave with manageable obligations and a solid earnings foundation.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$6,015
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$4,508
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$10,523

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 / Sonoma State University briefing

Sonoma State University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Sonoma State University admits 93.4% of applicants, a rate that sits above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size). The university's admission rate reflects broad access rather than narrow selectivity.

Admissions
Admission rate
93.4%
Read the full admissions brief

04 / Sonoma State University briefing

What are the largest majors at Sonoma State University?[12]

Sonoma State University's strongest nationally ranked programs span both high-earning technical fields and larger social-science and education programs. Education holds an Azimuth national rank of #2 and the top spot in California, with 130 degrees awarded and median earnings of $52,842 four years after completion.

Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies ranks #4 nationally and #2 in California, awarding 47 degrees and reaching $64,116. Nursing follows at #6 nationally, and #6 in California, with 63 degrees awarded and median earnings of $143,886.

The highest-earning program, Nursing, reaches $143,886 on 63 degrees awarded. The largest program, Business Administration and Management, awards 421 degrees and earns a median of $75,887.

Psychology, with 213 degrees awarded, reports $57,335 and an Azimuth national rank of #62. The spread between a top-ranked field like Education and a larger moderate-earning program like Psychology shows the range of earnings outcomes across the university's programs.

Sonoma State University publishes earnings data for 24 bachelor's programs, 21 of which hold an Azimuth national rank. The strongest-ranked is Education, which sits at #2 nationally and #1 in California.

It awarded 130 degrees, and its completers earn a median of $52,842 four years after completion. The largest program, Business Administration and Management, awarded 421 degrees and ranks #63 nationally, with a median of $75,887.

Nursing ranks #6 nationally and #6 in California. The program awarded 63 degrees, and its completers earn a median of $143,886 four years after completion.

Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies holds a national rank of #4 with 47 degrees awarded and a median of $64,116. Anthropology rounds out the top-ranked group at #9 nationally, awarding 29 degrees and a median of $62,674.

Business accounts for 18.7% of bachelor's degrees awarded at Sonoma State University, with Social Sciences next at 14.1% and Psychology at 9.5%. The university has 21 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 24 with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single program is Business Administration and Management, at 421 degrees awarded, followed by Psychology with 213 and Sociology with 142. Education is the highest-ranked program, with 130 degrees awarded and median earnings of $52,842 four years after completion; it ranks #1 in California within its field.

Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies ranks #4 nationally and #2 in California within its field, with 47 degrees awarded and earnings of $64,116. Nursing carries a benchmark ratio of 1.62x against the national median for its field, with earnings of $143,886 from 63 degrees awarded.

The highest-earning program is Nursing, where graduates earn $143,886 four years after completing 63 degrees a year. The pattern is one of strength spread across several fields rather than concentrated in a single department.

The largest programs in business and psychology post earnings above the national median for their fields, while a smaller program in education carries the strongest national rank. 13.7% of degrees awarded are in STEM, and the highest earnings come from nursing and engineering, both of which award fewer than a hundred degrees a year.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 421 degrees awarded
$75,887
Psychology, General 213 degrees awarded
$57,335
Sociology 142 degrees awarded
$56,581
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities 137 degrees awarded
$59,444
Education, Other 130 degrees awarded
$52,842
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 116 degrees awarded
$67,351

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 / Sonoma State University briefing

How does Sonoma State University serve students from different backgrounds?

Sonoma State University's strongest pillar is mobility, where Azimuth places it in the 86th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 57.6%, while Pell recipients complete at 59.1%, a figure that sits above the overall rate by 1.5 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $10,523 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 84th percentile nationally. A graduation rate that holds steady for Pell recipients and earnings that clear the model's bar by a wide margin point the same way: the university delivers on mobility.

Sonoma State University enrolls 5,166 undergraduates and admits 93.4% of applicants, a rate above the peer median of 85.9% — the midpoint among comparable public universities. Pell Grant recipients make up 35.9% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 48.8% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 60th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / Sonoma State University briefing

What colleges are similar to Sonoma State University?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Sonoma State University.

Admissions peerCalifornia State University-Sacramento94.0% admitted
Comparison with Sonoma State University
MeasureSonoma State UniversityCalifornia State University-Sacramento
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,997$64,511-$1,486 vs Sonoma State University
Average annual net price$12,885$9,338-$3,547 vs Sonoma State University · lower cost
Admission rate93.4%94.0%
Explore California State University-Sacramento →
Nearby alternativeCalifornia State University-SacramentoNearby option · CA
Comparison with Sonoma State University
MeasureSonoma State UniversityCalifornia State University-Sacramento
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,997$64,511-$1,486 vs Sonoma State University
Average annual net price$12,885$9,338-$3,547 vs Sonoma State University · lower cost
Admission rate93.4%94.0%
Explore California State University-Sacramento →
Higher-earnings alternativeSan Jose State University$89,614 earnings
Comparison with Sonoma State University
MeasureSonoma State UniversitySan Jose State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,997$89,614+$23,617 vs Sonoma State University
Average annual net price$12,885$13,760+$875 vs Sonoma State University · higher cost
Admission rate93.4%84.6%
Explore San Jose State University →
Lower-cost alternativeCalifornia State University-Sacramento$9,338 average net price
Comparison with Sonoma State University
MeasureSonoma State UniversityCalifornia State University-Sacramento
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,997$64,511-$1,486 vs Sonoma State University
Average annual net price$12,885$9,338-$3,547 vs Sonoma State University · lower cost
Admission rate93.4%94.0%
Explore California State University-Sacramento →
Similar profileCalifornia State University-Channel IslandsMatched across several measures
Comparison with Sonoma State University
MeasureSonoma State UniversityCalifornia State University-Channel Islands
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,997$59,304-$6,693 vs Sonoma State University
Average annual net price$12,885$9,849-$3,036 vs Sonoma State University · lower cost
Admission rate93.4%94.8%
Explore California State University-Channel Islands →

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