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Highlights and Distinctions
Excellence, Access and Impact
Each year, ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ builds on its mission to serve students, foster community partnerships, and elevate academic excellence. The following represent some of the most impactful initiatives, accomplishments and milestones from across campus.
Campus Highlights
- The Festival of New American Music (FeNAM), the longest running festival of contemporary music by American-born or U.S. based artists, expanded its partnership with local K-12 schools and community colleges, offering all events for free.
- The Guardian Scholars Promise guarantees admission to Sacramento State for foster youth who are CSU eligible, offering automatic acceptance and support through the Guardian Scholars Program.
- Celebrating its 20th anniversary, ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ's Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, which has grown from 15,000 to over 83,000 volumes, is the only collection of its kind in the western United States.
- ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ faculty and staff secured more than $44 million in external funding for research projects in 2023-24, the highest amount ever received. The number represents a 19% increase over the previous year.
- The Associated Students Inc. Food Pantry distributed 68,833 pounds of fresh produce to 3,320 students across 15,577 visits.
- Sacramento State is meeting the needs of American Sign Language (ASL) students and their families with a course for parents of children who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing that explores Deaf culture and teaches age-appropriate signs, along with the opening of a new ASL lab.
- Sacramento State's graduation rate rose to more than 30%, the highest graduation rate in the history of the University.
- A report by Excelencia in Education, an organization that promotes Latine college student success, ranks Sacramento State 10th in the nation for awarding undergraduate education degrees to Latine students.
- More than 1,000 participants joined the Out of the Darkness Campus Walk for suicide prevention, marking one of the highest turnouts nationwide.
College Highlights
- The College of Business has graduated nearly 40,000 students since its creation in 1947, with over 25,000 alumni remaining in the Greater Sacramento region, and provides $400,000 in scholarships every year.
- On behalf of academic departments, the College of Continuing Education served over 1,400 adult learners in academic year 2023-24, through the administration of seven undergraduate degree completion programs, 10 graduate programs and 12 credential and certificate programs.
- The College of Education awarded over $1 million in scholarships, ranging from $1,500 to $15,000, to Innovation Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Education (ICEECE) scholars. Funding comes from the California Natural Resources Agency and was supported by then-Assemblyman and current Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty.
- The College of Engineering and Computer Science received a Bronze award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Diversity Recognition Program (DRP) for making significant, measurable progress in diversity, inclusion and degree attainment.
- The College of Health and Human Services works with more than 1,100 community partners; offers nine community clinics, including Health Hive Mobile Health Services; and places 2,000-plus interns in clinical and field placements each year.
- The Department of Physics & Astronomy received $230,625 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support research on how a galaxy's structure influences its evolution and star formation, as well as student support and new planetarium shows.
- Nearly 4,000 Yolo County households participated in a food access survey by ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Institute for Social Research, part of the College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies. The first survey of its kind in the country, it found that one in three households are food insecure.
2025 Highlights
Combat U Launches, Offering New Pathways to Education
In Fall 2024, ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ and UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber launched Combat Sports and Martial Arts University (Combat U), a groundbreaking mixed martial arts program that offers students higher education along-side competition in boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai and jiu jitsu. A partnership with Faber's Ultimate Fitness gym, the program provides scholarships and training under world-class athletes. In November, Combat U hosted the inaugural Causeway Boxing Classic featuring athletes from ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ and UC Davis, in which the University won four of five bouts.
New Football Stadium to Boost Athletics, School Pride and the Region
Sacramento State has announced plans for a new, multiuse sports and entertainment venue that will position the University as a top athletic program, improving the experience for students, athletes and the community. The state-of-the-art facility will improve Hornet Stadium, which was built in 1969, with a modernized infrastructure and updated amenities.
CSU’s First Native American College
The creation of a new Native American College on campus – the first of its kind in the ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ system – will offer community-based learning for students interested in tribal sovereignty and leadership.
A New Space for Creativity and Learning
¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s new, state-of-the-art $18.5 million Art Studio Lab (ASL) officially opened in November and welcomed students in Spring 2025, affirming the University as the preeminent place to study art in Northern California. The 20,377-square-foot building includes a lobby gallery, studios, shops and labs, graduate studios and an outdoor sculpture yard, enhancing the learning environment for art students and supporting academic and professional growth.
Nation's First Black Honors College Opens
With a mission to serve all students interested in Black history, life and culture, Sacramento State’s Black Honors College is the first institution of its kind in the country. It is a key part of the University’s efforts to advance student success by boosting enrollment, retention and graduation rates for all students, with a focus on fostering an inclusive environment. It features specialized general education courses with smaller classes and faculty members with a record of delivering a curriculum focused on the Black experience. The college welcomed its first student cohort in Fall 2024.