San Francisco
State University
Public Research University in San Francisco, CA. Six-year graduation rate 50%. Median 10-year earnings $68,077.
Ten-year median earnings of $68,077 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. 50% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates leave owing a median of $15,371 — modest by four-year standards. On economic mobility, 3.5% 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)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
San Francisco State University admits 96% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. 28,221 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield is low at 9%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
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 Francisco State University →Academics
50% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. 83% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. The part-time picture is harder: 54% return, against 83% full-time. At 19:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 20,033 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $13,168 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $9,341 while those at $110k+ pay $22,523. Grant aid reaches 65% of students at an average of $12,110. 24% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 2,850 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 | $9,341 |
| $30–48k | $9,867 |
| $48–75k | $11,825 |
| $75–110k | $14,556 |
| $110k+ | $22,523 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,805 of these 20,033 students, totalling $32,057,346 — an average of $6,672 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Francisco 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)