San Diego
State University
Public Research University in San Diego, CA. Six-year graduation rate 76%. Median 10-year earnings $64,909.
Ten-year median earnings of $64,909 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. Completion is a strength: 76% of students finish within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $15,000. On economic mobility, 3.7% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.23 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 76% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 36% of applicants are offered a place. 89,972 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. About 20% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at San Diego State University →Academics
76% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 91%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Retention drops to 79% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. A 27:1 ratio means students need to be deliberate about getting faculty time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 33,654 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $14,704 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $9,910 while those at $110k+ pay $23,821. Grant aid reaches 53% of students at an average of $11,857. Only 24% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 6,095 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $9,910 |
| $30–48k | $10,017 |
| $48–75k | $12,697 |
| $75–110k | $15,891 |
| $110k+ | $23,821 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 7,915 of these 33,654 students, totalling $51,427,146 — an average of $6,497 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Diego County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)