Facts

The WASC Senior College and University Commission fully accredited Sonoma State University. 

The University is also a member of the prestigious Council of Public Liberal Arts and Colleges, an association of public colleges and universities whose primary mission is ensuring that fine undergraduate liberal arts and sciences education is available to students in the public systems of higher education. SSU is the only California member of COPLAC.

In addition, individual program accreditations have been granted by:

• Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
• American Chemical Society
• Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
• California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and California Board of Registered Nursing
• Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
• Master's in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council
• National Association of Schools of Music
• National Association for Schools of Art and Design
• National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
• National League for Nursing

Sonoma State University Athletics is an NCAA Division II member and part of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. SSU has 11 sponsored sports in the CCAA.
Sonoma State athletics got its start in 1964 with the school's first men's basketball team. Through the years, the Seawolves have had much success including national championships in 1990 (women's soccer), 2002 (men's soccer), and 2009 (men's golf).

• 40 academic departments
• 76 major degree programs, bachelor's level
  (counting undergraduate majors with both BA/BS options)
• 57 minors
• 34 master's degrees
  (counting master’s degrees with multiple tracks, i.e.: Counseling, Business MBA)
• 4 credential programs
• 43 certificate programs
• SSU offers one of the only Wine Business programs in the country.
• Majors, Minors, Graduate Programs, Credentials, and Certificates 
• General Education

Satellite Centers

Satellite Centers: SSU offers a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree completion program in partnership with the SSU School of Extended Education, the College of Marin, and the Solano Community College. The Liberal Studies-Ukiah BA Program at Mendocino College offers face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses taught by SSU faculty from departments across campus.

*Sonoma State University recognizes gender identification beyond the male/female binary, but does not identify some gender identification groups with fewer than 10 members.

Faculty data: Fall 2023

Founded

Sonoma State College was founded in 1961 when Governor Edmund G. Brown signed Senate Bill 43 establishing the college as a member of the California State College system. The college opened in temporary quarters in 1961 under the leadership of founding president Ambrose R. Nichols, Jr. with an enrollment of 265 upper-division students. Most of the faculty and administrators of the Santa Rosa Center of San Francisco State College, which had served the region since 1956, joined the new college. Sonoma State College moved to its present 269-acre site in 1966 when its first two buildings, Stevenson and Darwin Halls, were completed. By then there were more than 1,000 students enrolled. In 1978, University status was granted and the name of the college was changed to Sonoma State University.

University Milestones

Presidents

The University Library is a key partner in supporting student learning, success, and well-being. We work collaboratively across campus to promote discovery of and access to information, to help students achieve their educational goals, and to preserve and provide access to the research of the Sonoma State community and the cultural and social history of the North Bay.

Student Instruction and Engagement

• More than 2,500 Seawolves taught every year through our Instruction program.
• More than 1,000 research help questions answered annually.

Active and Collaborative Learning

The library supports active, hands-on learning in our Makerspace, in the Special Collections, and by lending technologies and tools students need to be successful. 

• The Makerspace is free for SSU students, faculty, and staff.
• More than 6,500 laptops, chargers, and other technology are loaned annually.
• Library study rooms are reserved an average of 11,000 times per year.

Library Collections

Access to library resources has saved students an estimated $8.9M since 2019. The library partners with faculty to provide access to course materials in print and electronic formats, making these materials free to students. 

• The library holds over 430,000 books in print.  
• The library subscribes to more than 150 databases for online access to journals, digital archival collections, newspapers and magazines, and ebooks.  
• Students, faculty, staff, and community members borrow an average of 1,700 items monthly from the library.
• E-resources are requested over 250,000 times a year. 

About the Building

The Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center opened in August 2000 and houses the University Library, the Learning and Academic Resource Center, the Advising and Transfer Center, the Center for Academic Access and Student Enrichment, the Military and Veteran Resource Center, and EdEon.

• The building is 215,000 square feet spread over three floors. 
• Includes 50,000 feet of shelving. 
• Deploys an Automated Retrieval System with 750,000 volume capacity

Fall 2024

Student Fees

Visit the Registration and Fees page for a full overview of charges and fees per semester for each academic year.