California State University-San Marcos

San Marcos, CA
333 S Twin Oaks Valley Rd, San Marcos, CA 92096-0001
760-750-4000

California State University-San Marcos is a public university in San Marcos, California. It is one of the 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU) system. The university is the only CSU campus in North County, which includes the cities of San Marcos, Escondido, Carlsbad, and Oceanside.

The university was founded in 1989 as the 20th CSU campus. The first classes were held in 1990 with an enrollment of 700 students. The university has since grown to an enrollment of over 16,000 students. The university offers bachelor's and master's degrees in a variety of disciplines.

The university is located on a 304-acre (1.23 km2) site in the southernmost part of San Marcos. The campus is adjacent to the San Marcos Creek and is bordered by the cities of Carlsbad and Escondido.

The university is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The university's athletic teams are members of the NCAA Division II and the California Collegiate Athletic Association.



Quick Facts

Enrollment: 16367

Acceptance Rate: 79.42%

Type: Public, 4-year or above

Main Website: https://www.csusm.edu/

Financial Aid: https://www.csusm.edu/finaid/

Annual Costs

Total Cost In-State On-Campus: $25097

Total Cost Out-State On-Campus: $36977

Return on Investment Rating

rating stars

The estimated cost for four years as an undergraduate at California State University-San Marcos is $98044.55. This includes the average cost of attendance for four years plus the interest on the average loan over a ten year repayment minus the average of grants and scholarships per student.

We then contrast this figure with average early-career and mid-career average incomes of graduates of four year programs at California State University-San Marcos. For graduates of California State University-San Marcos, we saw an average early-career income of $56300.00 and mid-career income of $103200.00. We then ranked the school's value based on how many years of mid-career income it takes to repay the educational costs.