California State University, San Bernardino

Cal State San Bernardino is part of the California State University system, the largest and most diverse system of public higher education in the country. The CSU’s 22 campuses plus its off-campus centers serve more than 460,000 students, extending from Humboldt State in Arcata in the north to San Diego State in the south, as well as employing more than 63,000 faculty and staff to serve those students’ needs.

The CSU system is the nation’s largest four-year public university, providing opportunities for upward mobility to diverse students across the state and empowering them to become leaders in the changing workforce.  The CSU plays a critical role in providing future leaders with the skills and knowledge they’ll need to thrive in the workforce and help drive California’s economy. More than 4,000 degree programs are available, aligning with workforce demands. The CSU is the state’s greatest producer of bachelor’s degrees—awarding just under 104,000 in 2023-24, 83% of the total degrees awarded by the system—and drives California’s economy in agriculture, information technology, business, hospitality, life sciences, healthcare, public administration, education, media and entertainment.

The individual California State Colleges were brought together as a system by the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960. In 1972, the system became the California State University and Colleges, and in 1982, it became the California State University. Today, the campuses of the CSU include comprehensive and polytechnic universities.  Since 1960, the CSU has graduated 4.3 million individuals.

The oldest campus—San José State University—was founded in 1857, and became the first institution of public higher education in California. California State University, Channel Islands is the newest CSU campus, opening in fall 2002, with freshmen arriving in fall 2003.

Responsibility for the CSU is vested in its Board of Trustees, whose members are appointed by the governor of California. The trustees appoint the chancellor, who is the chief executive officer of the system, and the presidents, who are the chief executive officers of their respective universities.

The CSU offers more than 4,000 undergraduate and graduate degree programs through both classroom and online instruction. 

For more information about the California State University and any of its 23 campuses, visit the California State University System website, along with its current Factbook.

About CSUSB

California State University, San Bernardino is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in Inland Southern California. The San Bernardino Campus opened in 1965, and is set at the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains. The Palm Desert Campus opened in 1986 as the “Coachella Valley Center”; a permanent site was granted in 1994 and the first permanent building occupied in 2002. The university serves approximately 18,000 students each year on its two campuses, and graduates approximately 5,000 students annually.

CSUSB continues to climb in national rankings, both overall and in specific disciplines. For example, we are climbing in the national rankings for social mobility (the Wall Street Journal has us at 3rd in the country for 2025). Social mobility benchmarks four-year U.S. colleges and universities according to how effectively they enroll students from low-income backgrounds and graduate them into good-paying jobs.

CSUSB reflects the dynamic diversity of the region.  The vast majority of students are first-generation, that is, the first in their family to attend college. For example, Excelencia in Education, which is “committed to Ensuring America’s Future by increasing Latino college completion,” has awarded CSUSB the Seal of Excelencia for 2024-2027. Washington Monthly lists CSUSB as No. 10 in the West in the Best Bang for the Buck category. In the Best Value-National Universities listing for US News and World Report, CSUSB was ranked No. 45, making it the highest-ranked California public university. These rankings demonstrate that affordability does not cancel quality.

CSUSB’s five academic colleges offer more than 70 undergraduate degrees, master's degree programs and a doctoral program as well as certificates. Those academic colleges include: the College of Arts and Letters, the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education, the College of Natural Sciences and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. CSUSB’s College of Extended and Global Education further expands the range of programs available to traditional and non-traditional students alike.

Two recent innovatory centers and schools garnering state and national attention include: CSUSB’s Center for Cyber and AI, which equips students with hands-on experience and research opportunities, preparing them for high-impact careers in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence; and California’s first school of entrepreneurship—the CSUSB Randall W. Lewis School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Vision Statement

CSUSB aspires to be a model for transforming lives.

Mission Statement

At CSUSB, we promote each other’s growth and success and enhance the vitality of our region through active learning, effective mentoring, impactful scholarship, and civic engagement. We cultivate the professional, ethical and intellectual development of our diverse students, faculty and staff so they thrive and make positive contributions to our globally connected society.

CSUSB Strategic Plan

A task force representing all levels of California State University, San Bernardino worked throughout the 2022-2023 academic year to develop the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan. The plan builds on the foundation set forth by the previous plan, which was implemented in 2015-2020, and then extended for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023-2028 plan continues goals and objectives from the previous plan, while proposing changes based on the university's new priorities and the shifting landscape of higher education. The 2023-2028 Strategic Plan is focused on four goals:

1. Student Success;
2. Faculty and Staff Success;
3. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion;
4. Internationalization.

For more information, please visit the Strategic Plan website. Or you can download the plan.

Economic Impact

The benefits of California State University, San Bernardino’s economic, technological, social and environmental impacts can be felt throughout the region and all over California. CSUSB provides an exceptional return on investment not only for its students, but also for the region and state. 

As of 2023-24, for every dollar California invests in CSUSB, the university returns $10.06 in statewide industry activity. When the impact of enhanced alumni earnings is included, $50.81 in statewide industry activity is generated. CSUSB’s impact has supported 9,700 jobs state-wide, generated $1.2 billion in industry activity, and generated $87.7 million in state and local tax revenue. 

With approximately 2,500 employees, Cal State San Bernardino is one of the largest employers in the region. In addition to supporting job creation and reducing unemployment, 81% of alumni remain in the region, further strengthening and growing the Inland Empire economy. 

As an additional clear benefit of a college degree, the latest data shows that Californians with a four-year college degree continue to have significant advantages over those without.  Per the Public Policy Institute of California, “California workers with a bachelor’s degree earn a median annual wage of $90,000; only 5 percent of workers without a high school diploma and 12 percent of those whose highest level of education is a high school diploma earn as much. Indeed, bachelor’s degree holders in the bottom quarter of the wage distribution earn more than 75 percent of workers without a high school diploma and half of workers with at most a high school diploma.”

Academic Plan

California State University, San Bernardino operates on the semester system. The fall and spring terms each consist of 15 weeks of instruction plus a final exam week. The university also offers a self-support summer semester allowing students to accelerate their progress and take summer courses. Summer semester has two five-week sessions and one 10-week session in the term.

Most lecture/discussion/seminar courses are offered for three units of credit and meet three hours per week. Each unit of credit typically requires two hours of out-of-class study and preparation in addition to the hour of direct instruction in the class. Laboratories and activity-based courses meet for 2-3 hours of instruction a week for each unit of credit.

The minimum number of semester units required for the Bachelor’s degree is 120. Some Bachelor’s degree programs require additional units. Students planning to graduate in four years need to take an average of 15 units per semester to reach 120 units. Master’s degrees require a minimum of 30 units, but some professional degrees, such as the M.S.W. in Social Work and M.S. in Clinical/Counseling Psychology, have licensing and/or accreditation standards demanding 60 units or more. The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, Community College Specialization and the PK-12 Specialization requires 61 units for completion. The Ed.S. in School Psychology requires 63 units for completion.

Institutional Learning Outcomes

1. Breadth of Knowledge. Students identify, explain and apply multiple approaches to problem solving and knowledge production from within and across disciplines and fields to intellectual, ethical, social and practical issues.
2. Depth of Knowledge. Students demonstrate a depth of knowledge in a specific discipline or field and apply the values and ways of knowing and doing specific to that discipline or field to intellectual, ethical, social and practical issues.
3. Critical Literacies. Students analyze the ways artistic, oral, quantitative, technological and written expression and information both shape and are shaped by underlying values, assumptions and contexts, so that they can critically contribute to local and global communities.
4. Ways of reasoning and inquiry. Students engage in diverse methods of reasoning and inquiry to define problems, identify and evaluate potential solutions, and determine a course of action.
5. Creativity and Innovation. Students develop and use new approaches to thinking, problem solving and expression.
6. Integrative Learning. Students connect disciplines and learning experiences to frame and solve unscripted problems using lenses from multiple fields, contexts, cultures and identities.
7. Engagement in the Campus, Local and Global Communities. Students develop dispositions and apply intellect and behaviors to respect and promote social justice and equity on campus and across local and global communities.
8. Diversity and Inclusion. Students understand how dynamics within global communities influence the ways in which people see the world. They develop dispositions to respectfully interact and collaborate with diverse individuals and groups and acknowledge their own perspectives and biases.

Colleges of the University

The academic program of the university is offered through five colleges—the College of Arts and Letters, the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education, the College of Natural Sciences and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences—organized into departments and schools.

CSUSB’s College of Extended and Global Education further expands the range of programs available to traditional and non-traditional students alike.

Degree programs are offered by departments, schools, colleges and interdisciplinary committees. Navigate to Programs A-Z for a complete listing of the degrees and programs available at the university. In addition, the university now offers a CSUSB Program Finder to assist prospective students in their college choice process.

CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation

(909) 537-7769 CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation website

CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation, formerly known as the Foundation for California State University, San Bernardino, is the officially recognized charitable gift-processing auxiliary organization of California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). The Foundation operates as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization and its federal Tax ID number is 45-2255077.

The Foundation encourages gifts and financial support while creating learning opportunities for students, alumni, and the community that complement the University's teaching, research and public service goals driven by intellectual interaction and creativity.

The CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation is a non-profit corporation chartered solely to support, benefit and advance the mission of California State University, San Bernardino that fosters a supportive and welcoming social and physical setting where students, faculty and staff feel they belong and can excel.

Directors

• Monica Alejandre
• Debbie Brown
• Dorothy Chen-Maynard
• Jerrold Coakley
• Carson Fajardo
• Grace Garner
• Roderick Hendry (Rod)
• Cole R. Jackson
• Nefertiti Long (Nef)
• Gary McBride ’94 & ‘08 
• Mustafa Milbis
• Rafik Mohamed
• Lou G. Monville, III '94 
• Tomás D. Morales
• Robert J. Nava
• Paz Olivérez
• Manish Patel
• Robin Phillips
• Rheanna Rodriguez
• Julia Ruiz
• Shanthi Srinivas
• William M. Stevenson '84 (Bill)
• Karen I. Suarez '07
• Samuel Sudhakar (Sam)
• Becky Sumbera
• Elise K. Traynum
• Kiana Webb
• Ellen G. Weisser '68

Emeritus

• Donald F. Averill (Don)
• Bob Burlingame
• Nicholas J. Coussoulis '75 (Nick)
• Paul C. Granillo '91
• W. Benson Harer, Jr. (Ben)
• Mark A. Kaenel '84 & '89
• Wilfrid Lemann, Esq. (Bill)
• Barbara McGee
• Yolanda T. Moses '68
• Neale A. Perkins
• Steve PonTell
• The Honorable James C. Ramos, Jr. '02
• Philip M. Savage, IV, Esq. (Phil)
• Paul M. Shimoff, Esq.
• Justin S. Swant ‘03
• Ernest H. Siva (Ernie)
• Edward C. Teyber (Ed)

Administrative Officers