San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university located in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1897, formerly known as San Diego Normal University, and is the third-ranked university in the California State University (CSU) system with 23 members. The number of students at SDSU in the fall of 2019 is 35,081, and the total number of alumni exceeds 300,000.
It is classified as “R2: Doctoral University-High Research Activities”. In the 2015-16 fiscal year, the university received $130 million in public and private funding for a total of 707 awards, compared with $120.6 million in the previous fiscal year. According to the “College Academic Productivity Index” report issued by the Academic Analysis Organization of Stony Brook University in New York State, in 2006 and 2007, SDSU had the highest research output among all small research universities in the United States. The number of California Fulbright scholars sponsored by SDSU is the second highest, second only to the University of California, Berkeley. Since 2005, the university has trained 65 Fulbright students and scholars.
The university generates more than $2.4 billion in income for the economy of San Diego each year, and 60% of SDSU graduates still remain in San Diego, making SDSU the main educator of the workforce in the region. SDSU is committed to providing services to the San Diego area. It is one of the ten largest ethnic and racial differences among the nation’s universities and one of the top ten universities for the number of bachelor degrees awarded to minority students.