Sonoma State University Overview

Sonoma State University is a public institution situated in Rohnert Park, California. The suburban atmosphere of Rohnert Park makes it a great place for students who want the amenities of city life without actually living in the middle of a constant hustle and bustle.

What Is Sonoma State University Known For?

• The student loan default rate at SSU is 3%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
• The highest award offered at SSU is the post-master's certificate.
• For the 2019-2020 academic year, 51% of the faculty were full-time.
• After graduation, SSU bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $58,788 a year. That's about 44% more than their peers at other schools.

Sonoma State University Rankings

These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at SSU.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#17	Best Value Anthropology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#34	Best Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#47	Best Value Sociology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#53	Best Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#55	Best Value Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#63	Best Value Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#69	Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#83	Best Value Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#102	Best Value Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#144	Best Value Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards SSU has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#16	Best Value Colleges for Ethnic Studies	College Factual
#24	Best Nursing Schools	Nursing Degree Search
#54	Best Value Colleges for Anthropology	College Factual
#55	Best Value Colleges for Anthropology	College Factual
#64	Best Value Colleges for Sociology	College Factual
#64	Best Value Colleges for Sociology	College Factual

Where Is Sonoma State University?

Contact details for SSU are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	1801 E Cotati Ave, Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
Phone:	707-664-2880
Website:	www.sonoma.edu
Facebook:	http://www.facebook.com/sonomastateuniversity
Twitter:	http://twitter.com/ssu_1961

How Do I Get Into SSU?

You can apply to SSU online at: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply

Admission Requirements for SSU

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	neither required nor recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	neither required nor recommended
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	neither required nor recommended

How Hard Is It To Get Into SSU?

With an acceptance rate of 89%, SSU is fairly easy to get into, but you must be sure to submit the required materials.

Approximately 36% of accepted students are men and 64% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 87%, and the acceptance rate for women is 90%.

Average Test Scores

About 90% of students accepted to SSU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 480 and 590. Math scores were between 470 and 560.

SSU received ACT scores from 28% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 16 and 24. Math scores were between 16 and 23. Composite scores were between 17 and 23.

Can I Afford Sonoma State University?

The overall average net price of SSU is $30,078. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At SSU, approximately 38% of students took out student loans averaging $6,087 a year. That adds up to $24,348 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at SSU is 2.9%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Sonoma State University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 7,255 undergraduate students at SSU, with 6,419 being full-time and 836 being part-time.

There are also 763 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 6,419 full-time undergraduates at SSU, 36% are male and 64% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Sonoma State University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	321
Black or African American	152
Hispanic or Latino	2,420
White	2,625
International Students	208
Other Races/Ethnicities	693

Geographic Diversity

California students aren't the only ones who study at Sonoma State University. At this time, 16 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 34 countries are represented at SSU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are Japan, China, and Germany.

Online Learning at Sonoma State University

In 2019-2020, 7,905 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at SSU has changed over the last few years.

Online Growth Rankings of SSU

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Sonoma State University was 2,100.2%. This is the #85 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at SSU regardless of major.

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Sonoma State University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Master’s	TOTAL
Business Administration & Management	403	62	465
General Psychology	202	4	206
Sociology	148	0	148
Liberal Arts General Studies	117	0	117
Other Education	92	0	92
General Biology	89	2	91
Health & Physical Education	91	0	91
Nursing	59	30	89
Communication & Media Studies	87	0	87
General English Literature	74	13	87
Criminal Justice & Corrections	79	0	79
Computer Science	53	0	53
History	45	4	49
Geography & Cartography	45	0	45
Romance Languages	40	3	43
Ethnic Studies	41	0	41
Political Science & Government	41	0	41
Economics	36	0	36
Human Development & Family Studies	32	0	32
Fine & Studio Arts	32	0	32
Mathematics	31	0	31
General Education	0	28	28
Anthropology	28	0	28
Student Counseling	0	26	26
Electrical Engineering	24	0	24
Natural Resources Conservation	23	0	23
Drama & Theater Arts	21	0	21
Music	21	0	21
Philosophy	20	0	20
Chemistry	15	0	15
Geological & Earth Sciences	13	0	13
Physics	13	0	13
Statistics	11	0	11
Human Resource Management	0	9	9
Agricultural Economics & Business	0	7	7
Public Administration	0	6	6
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	5	0	5
Historic Preservation	0	5	5
International Studies	5	0	5
Engineering Science	0	4	4
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	2	2	4
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	0	2	2
Applied Mathematics	0	0	0
International Relations & National Security	0	0	0
TOTAL	2,038	207	2,245

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Stepheng3 under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.