California State University, Stanislaus (Stanislaus State, Stan State) is a public university in Turlock, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. It was established in 1957 and offers 45 bachelor's degree programs and 38 graduate programs, which include 22 master's degree programs, one doctoral degree (Doctor of Education), 10 certificate programs, and 5 teaching credentials. Stanislaus State is a Hispanic-serving institution.
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History
In 1957, the California State Legislature established what was then called Stanislaus State College as the 15th campus of the CSU system. Because Turlock was better known at the time for its turkeys than its aspirations towards higher education, Clark Kerr highlighted this event in his memoirs as an example of how the state colleges had become vulnerable to pork barrel politics in the state legislature. This was one of several reasons behind the creation of the California Master Plan for Higher Education of 1960.
Classes began on the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in September, 1960, and the college moved to its current location five years later. The college was first accredited in 1964. It gained university status and its current name in 1986.
In 1974, the university established an extension program at the campus of San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton in neighboring San Joaquin County. In 1998 the Stanislaus State-Stockton Center expanded and moved to its own permanent campus in downtown Stockton, located at the closed Stockton State Hospital.
Sarah Palin was selected as the keynote speaker at Stanislaus State's main fundraising event in 2010. Sponsored by a school foundation, the event resulted in the most successful fundraiser in the campus's history. It provoked speculation and debate when the university refused to disclose her speaking fee. A resulting investigation by the Attorney General of California Jerry Brown found no violation of law, but recommended accounting and oversight improvements in the foundation's practices.
Academics
As of 2024, California State University, Stanislaus offers 59 undergraduate programs, 8 graduate certificate programs, 23 master's degree programs, 7 school credential programs, and a doctoral degree program in Educational Leadership. Its academic disciplines are clustered within four colleges:
College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
College of Business Administration
College of Education, Kinesiology and Social Work
College of Science
Several individual programs, across the four colleges, have achieved and maintain accreditation by professional accreditation bodies. Stanislaus State's College of Business Administration is accredited by the AACSB. Its Human Resource Management program has the nation's top student testing success rate. In fall 2012, Stanislaus State launched an online Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program, the first fully online AACSB-accredited MBA program offered in the state of California.
The university library building was originally named for founding president Dr. J. Burton Vasché. The library currently holds over 300,000 volumes, over 30,000 online periodicals, and 215 electronic databases, and serves as a selective depository for federal and state publications. The library also contains the Dr. Armin Schulz Children's Literature Collection and the Francis Sarguis Modern Assyrian Heritage Collection.
As of fall 2017, the five most popular bachelor's degrees Programs are BS Business Administration, BA Psychology, BA Liberal Studies, BA/BS Biological Sciences, and BA Criminal Justice.
The university has several resources available for students. The Tutoring/Writing Center is located in the Vasché Library and offers individual and group tutoring. Some of the services available include essay planning, organization, development and revision, writing across the curriculum, ESL, and WPST test preparation. The university also has a bookstore that features marble herms by sculptor Andrew Wilson alongside other artwork, as well as a university police department and financial aid office. The New Stanislaus State Student Center is scheduled to open Spring 2020.
Rankings
The 2026 Wall Street Journal 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. ranked Stanislaus #21 out of 584 nationwide, including #4 in social mobility and #14 in best value.
The 2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Regional Universities West Rankings ranked Stanislaus #9 overall, #3 on Social Mobility, #6 on Top Public Schools, and #7 on for best Colleges for Veterans. Within the entire nation, the 2026 U.S. News & World Report ranked Stanislaus #294 in Nursing.
The Washington Monthly 2025 Master's University Rankings listed Cal State Stanislaus as #5 out of 585 institutions nationwide, and 11th for "Best Bang for the Buck" out of 197 schools in the U.S. western region.
Athletics
Stanislaus State, in the Division II of the NCAA, competes in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Stanislaus State fields 14 sports for men and women for the fall, winter, and spring seasons. Fall sports for men include soccer and cross country. Fall sports for women are soccer, volleyball and cross country. The winter sport for men is basketball and for women it is basketball and indoor track and field. Spring sports for men include baseball, golf, and track and field. Spring sports for women include softball, track and field, and tennis. Stan State also sponsors a competitive cheer team, which has competed at the NCA National Championships since 2017. Besides both being located in the east of California, but one in the south and the other in the north, Stanislaus and San Bernardino have competed heavily as conference rivals.
Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena
Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena (aka Warrior Gym) is a 2,000-seat multi-purpose, built in 1978, which is the home arena for the university's Warriors basketball and volleyball teams. It was also briefly the home of the defunct Big Valley Shockwave of the American Basketball Association. In the 2010–2011 season the name of the basketball arena was changed to Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena.
Student life
The university has a Hmong Students Association. In 2004 the association and a former member led the Project Ready for School to help children arriving in the United States from a Thai refugee camp for preparing for school.
As of fall 2018 CSU Stanislaus had the third largest enrollment percentage of Mexican Americans in the California State University system.
Sororities and fraternities
Greek life at CSUS includes several fraternities and sororities.
Notable people
Alumni
Susan Eggman – state senator
Nancy Stoyer – scientist
Steve Andrade – baseball player
Gregorio Billikopf – professor
Dennis Cardoza – U.S. Representative for California's 18th congressional district
Gary Condit (B.A., 1972) – former Congressman from California, initially implicated in the Chandra Levy murder case, before being cleared
Leo Dottavio – reality television personality, actor, and comedian, known for his performance on The Bachelorette Season 14
Carrie Henn – child actress who starred in Aliens
Lee Herrick – California Poet Laureate
Rusty Kuntz – former Major League Baseball outfielder and 1984 World Series Champion; current Kansas City first base coach
Dave Lanphear – comic book artist
Rico Oller (1980) – former state senator
Jasmine Sandlas – playback singer, television personality, performer, and songwriter
Joe Ryan (baseball) – baseball player
Joel Stallworth — track and field athlete
Robert J. Ulrich (casting director) – casting director, producer and former host of the show The Glee Project
Kim Johnston Ulrich – actor
Faculty
As'ad AbuKhalil – Professor of Political Science
Richard Weikart – Professor Emeritus of History, fellow at the Discovery Institute
Kou Yang – Professor Emeritus of Asian American Studies