California State University--Chico

California State University—Chico is a public institution that was founded in 1887. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 12,885 (fall 2022), its setting is rural, and the campus size is 132 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. California State University—Chico's ranking in the 2024 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities West, #16. Its in-state tuition and fees are $8,064; out-of-state tuition and fees are $19,944.

Students at California State University—Chico can choose from more than 300 fields of study, including master’s degree programs such as business, health, and political science. Outside the classroom, Chico State students can get involved in more than 200 campus clubs, join Greek life, and write for The Orion newspaper. Student athletes can play at the intramural, club, and intercollegiate levels. The Chico State Wildcats varsity teams are members of the NCAA Division II California Collegiate Athletic Association and compete in about a dozen sports.

Students at California State University—Chico have many opportunities to have fun off campus as well. The city of Chico is known as a bicycling community and hosts the Wildflower Century 100-mile bike race each April. Chico is also home to a world music festival, concert series, parks, and museums. Chico State students who want to venture out of town can drive to Table Mountain and Lake Oroville in minutes and to Sacramento and San Francisco in just a few hours. Notable Chico State alumni include Ken Grossman, cofounder and CEO of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.