The SF State acceptance rate for Fall 2025 was 90.3%: the campus admitted 25,451 of 28,200 first-time freshman applicants, according to the California State University admissions dashboard. Every other number Google shows, from 68.2% to 85%, 91%, 93% and 96%, is the same school measured in a different year, for a different group of applicants or with a different applicant count. Federal IPEDS data, for example, put Fall 2024 at 96.4% because they count fewer applicants for the same 27,215 admits.
San Francisco State University (SFSU, or SF State) is a public campus of the California State University system, so searches for the Cal State San Francisco acceptance rate lead here. It is not the private University of San Francisco (USF), and it is not UCSF, which is dedicated to graduate and professional education. Below you’ll find the year-by-year record, the GPA rules, the Nursing exception and the Fall 2027 dates.
San Francisco State University at a Glance
The San Francisco State University acceptance rate for Fall 2025 sits next to the other numbers an applicant checks first.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Public, California State University campus |
| First-time freshman acceptance rate (Fall 2025) | 90.3% (25,451 of 28,200) |
| California residents / non-residents (Fall 2025) | 91.4% / 76.2% |
| Transfer acceptance rate (Fall 2025) | 89.1% |
| First-time freshmen enrolled (Fall 2025) | 2,077 |
| Minimum A-G GPA | 2.50 for California residents or CA high school graduates / 3.00 for non-residents |
| SAT/ACT | Not used in admission (test-blind) |
| Impacted programs (Fall 2026, Spring 2027) | Nursing only |
| Fall 2027 application submission begins | October 1, 2026 |
| Application fee | $70 (non-refundable) |
| Tuition and fees (2024-25) | $7,950 in-state / $20,550 out-of-state |
| Six-year graduation rate | 50% (students who began in Fall 2018) |
Source: CSU Institutional Research Applications & Admissions dashboard (Fall 2025, accessed October 17, 2026); future.sfsu.edu; SFSU Bulletin 2026-2027; NCES College Navigator (2024-25 tuition, Fall 2018 cohort).
SF State is one of the campuses covered in the CalChannel guide to the California State University system.
SF State Acceptance Rate: 90.3% for Fall 2025
The SFSU acceptance rate 2025 figure is 90.3% for first-time freshmen, based on the CSU admissions dashboard. It isn’t a one-year spike. All five cycles from Fall 2021 to Fall 2025 landed between 90.0% and 92.9%.
Here’s what the data actually shows. The table lines up 12 fall cycles from two official sources, and from Fall 2022 on they disagree on the rate even though the admit counts match.
| Fall | Applicants (CSU) | Applicants (IPEDS) | Admitted | Rate (CSU) | Rate (IPEDS) | Enrolled | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | n/a | 31,963 | 21,087 | n/a | 66.0% | 3,754 | 17.8% |
| 2015 | n/a | 35,122 | 23,841 | n/a | 67.9% | 4,276 | 17.9% |
| 2016 | n/a | 36,223 | 24,704 | n/a | 68.2% | 3,642 | 14.7% |
| 2017 | n/a | 34,524 | 24,327 | n/a | 70.5% | 4,323 | 17.8% |
| 2018 | n/a | 35,606 | 25,550 | n/a | 71.8% | 4,287 | 16.8% |
| 2019 | n/a | 34,629 | 23,307 | n/a | 67.3% | 3,694 | 15.8% |
| 2020 | n/a | 31,430 | 26,431 | n/a | 84.1% | 2,779 | 10.5% |
| 2021 | 27,777 | 27,777 | 25,809 | 92.9% | 92.9% | 3,149 | 12.2% |
| 2022 | 30,966 | 29,932 | 28,195 | 91.1% | 94.2% | 3,339 | 11.8% |
| 2023 | 31,924 | 29,878 | 28,727 | 90.0% | 96.1% | 2,988 | 10.4% |
| 2024 | 30,246 | 28,221 | 27,215 | 90.0% | 96.4% | 2,340 | 8.6% |
| 2025 | 28,200 | not yet released | 25,451 | 90.3% | not yet released | 2,077 | 8.2% |
Source: CSU Institutional Research Applications & Admissions dashboard (Fall 2021-2025); IPEDS via Urban Institute Education Data API (Fall 2014-2024); CalChannel calculation.
The admit counts are identical in both series. From Fall 2022 on, though, IPEDS lists fewer applicants than the CSU dashboard: 1,034 fewer in Fall 2022, 2,046 in Fall 2023 and 2,025 in Fall 2024. That lifts the federal rate by 3.1, 6.2 and 6.5 percentage points.
In Fall 2021 the two series match exactly. No official explanation for the gap has been found, so this article reports both counts as published. You can check the federal figures on NCES College Navigator.
How CalChannel calculated this: the CSU figures come from the CSU admissions dashboard (view AppAdmitEnroll, Campus = San Francisco, Student Type = First-Time Freshmen, by Resident Type), read on October 17, 2026. The IPEDS figures for Fall 2014 to Fall 2024 come from the Urban Institute Education Data API (unitid 122597). Rate is admitted divided by applicants, and yield is enrolled divided by admitted.
Resident and non-resident rows add up to the campus total in all five CSU years. IPEDS had not published Fall 2025 as of October 17, 2026.
Why Google Shows Seven Different Numbers
Each figure below is a real SF State number. It just measures something else.
| Number you see | Where it appears | What it actually measures |
|---|---|---|
| 90% | US News | CSU count, all first-time freshmen, Fall 2023, 2024 or 2025 |
| 96%, 96.4%, 96.14% | Niche, PrepScholar, Data USA, BigFuture | IPEDS count, Fall 2024 or Fall 2023: same admits, fewer applicants |
| 91% | San Francisco Chronicle (in-state) | California residents only, Fall 2025 |
| 85% | San Francisco Chronicle (overall) | Matches CSU’s rate for all new students (freshmen, transfers, postbacc/graduate): 84.7% in Fall 2025. The Chronicle’s text labels it the 2024 fall semester, when the same rate was 84.4%. |
| 93% | CollegeVine | First-time freshmen, Fall 2021 |
| 84% | SFSU Common Data Set 2020-21 (the latest SFSU has posted) | IPEDS first-time freshmen, Fall 2020 (26,431 of 31,430) |
| 68.2% | Parchment (labeled 2015-16) | IPEDS first-time freshmen, Fall 2016 |
| 1,996 enrolled | San Francisco Chronicle | California-resident freshmen enrolled, Fall 2025 |
Source: CalChannel comparison of CSU dashboard and IPEDS series with figures shown on each site, October 2026.
Before you trust any San Francisco State acceptance rate, check three things: the year, the group (first-time freshmen or all new students, residents or everyone) and whose applicant count sits underneath. Read that way, the SF State acceptance rate stops looking like seven numbers: it is about 90% on the CSU count and about 96% on the federal count.
In-State vs Out-of-State: Who Gets In
The SF State University acceptance rate depends on where you live: in Fall 2025, California residents were admitted at 91.4% and non-residents at 76.2%. The gap has shown up in every cycle since Fall 2021.
| Fall | CA residents applied | CA residents admitted | CA resident rate | Non-residents applied | Non-residents admitted | Non-resident rate | Gap (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25,560 | 24,051 | 94.1% | 2,217 | 1,758 | 79.3% | 14.8 |
| 2022 | 28,311 | 26,251 | 92.7% | 2,655 | 1,944 | 73.2% | 19.5 |
| 2023 | 29,254 | 26,803 | 91.6% | 2,670 | 1,924 | 72.1% | 19.6 |
| 2024 | 27,977 | 25,591 | 91.5% | 2,269 | 1,624 | 71.6% | 19.9 |
| 2025 | 26,106 | 23,856 | 91.4% | 2,094 | 1,595 | 76.2% | 15.2 |
Source: CSU Institutional Research Applications & Admissions dashboard, Resident Type filter (accessed October 17, 2026); CalChannel calculation.
Non-residents are a small slice of the pool, between 7.4% and 8.6% of freshman applicants in each of the five years. In Fall 2025, 81 non-resident freshmen enrolled, next to 1,996 California residents.
Out-of-state applicants also face a higher GPA floor, covered in the GPA section below.
SF State Enrollment: Why the Rate Rose as the Freshman Class Shrank
Across the six falls from 2014 to 2019, SF State admitted an average of 68.6% of freshman applicants, per IPEDS. Since Fall 2021 the rate has stayed above 90%. Admits in Fall 2025 were 20.7% higher than in Fall 2014, while IPEDS applications fell 22.1% from Fall 2016 to Fall 2024 (36,223 to 28,221).
But here’s the thing. A higher SFSU acceptance rate did not fill more seats: the Fall 2025 freshman class was 52.0% smaller than at its Fall 2017 peak.
Denials fell from 11,519 in Fall 2016 to 1,006 in Fall 2024 on the IPEDS count; on the CSU count, 2,749 applicants were not admitted in Fall 2025. And the campus needed 12.3 admits for every enrolled freshman in Fall 2025, up from 8.2 in Fall 2021.
Applications have dropped too, down 11.7% from the Fall 2023 high in the CSU series to Fall 2025. Taken together, the numbers describe a campus that admits nearly every eligible applicant and competes for the ones who actually enroll, not a campus that lowered its academic bar.
What GPA Do You Need for SF State?
The San Francisco State University GPA needed for admission is an A-G GPA of 2.50 or higher if you’re a California resident or a California high school graduate, and 3.00 or higher if you’re not. Falling below that isn’t an automatic denial. A narrow band just under each minimum goes to a multi-factor review instead.
Here are the SFSU GPA requirements by applicant group, as listed on the SFSU freshman admissions page.
| A-G GPA | California resident or CA high school graduate | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible | 2.50 or higher | 3.00 or higher |
| Multi-factor review | 2.00 to 2.49 | 2.47 to 2.99 |
| Not covered by the review model | Below 2.00 | Below 2.47 |
Source: SFSU Freshman Admissions, future.sfsu.edu/admissions/freshmen (accessed October 2026).
One common mix-up: 2.00 and 2.47 are the lower edges of the review band, not minimums for eligibility.
What about the San Francisco State University average GPA? Neither CSU nor SFSU publishes a current average GPA for admitted or enrolled freshmen: the CSU admissions dashboard has no GPA field, and SFSU’s institutional research site lists Common Data Sets only through 2020-21 (checked October 17, 2026). So this article doesn’t give an average figure.
If Your GPA Is 2.00 to 2.49: The 4,500-Point Review
Applicants in the review band are ranked on a 4,500-point scale. Academics carry most of the weight.
| Component | Points | Share of 4,500 |
|---|---|---|
| A-G GPA × 800 | 1,600 to 2,000 | |
| A-G semesters beyond 30 (70 points each) | Up to 700 | |
| Academic subtotal | Up to 2,700 | 60% |
| Local admission area | 300 | |
| School with free or reduced-price lunch | 300 | |
| School subtotal | 600 | 13% |
| Six applicant attributes (200 points each) | 1,200 | 27% |
| Total | 4,500 | 100% |
Source: future.sfsu.edu/admissions/freshmen; shares and GPA equivalents are CalChannel calculations.
Because GPA is multiplied by 800, each 200-point applicant attribute is worth 0.25 of a GPA point. Each extra semester’s 70 points equals 0.0875 of a GPA point.
Bay Area Applicants: Two Different Advantages
SFSU describes a local advantage on two pages, and they work differently. On the freshman admissions page, local admission area is worth 300 points in the multi-factor model, about 0.375 of a GPA point, and it counts in two places: the review band (2.00 to 2.49 for residents, 2.47 to 2.99 for non-residents) and the ranking of Undeclared with an Interest in Nursing applicants, who need an A-G GPA of at least 2.50. That page doesn’t list which counties count as local.
For example, an applicant with a 2.20 GPA starts at 1,760 points (2.20 × 800) and earns 300 more if SFSU places them in its local admission area.
And it gets more complicated. SFSU’s impaction page names six counties, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara, whose residents get an extra 0.10 on their GPA “for the purpose of the competitive admission process” in impacted programs. In the model’s GPA × 800 formula, that’s 80 points.
With a GPA at or above the minimum and a major that isn’t impacted, you’re already eligible, so neither local advantage is needed.
Is SFSU Hard to Get Into? Nursing Is the Exception
There’s no published SFSU nursing acceptance rate. The SFSU School of Nursing says it typically receives more than 1,000 applications for 60 spaces a year, 20 in fall and 40 in spring. That puts the odds at most about 6%, roughly 15 times lower than the overall freshman rate.
Nursing is the only impacted program at SFSU for Fall 2026 and Spring 2027, covering the BSN, the ADN-BSN with CCSF and Undeclared with an Interest in Nursing. SFSU calls a major impacted when “the number of fully eligible applicants exceeds the number of spaces available.”
The ADN-BSN with College of San Mateo is closed for Fall 2026, and the Fall 2027 list isn’t published yet. Some online summaries call business, computer science or film impacted, but SFSU’s impaction page lists only Nursing.
The path into the BSN runs like this:
- Freshmen can’t be admitted as nursing majors. You apply as Undeclared with an Interest in Nursing, which carries no guarantee.
- That group, open to applicants with an A-G GPA of 2.50 or higher, is ranked with the same 4,500-point model.
- Complete the nursing prerequisites with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
- Score 78 or higher on the TEAS, with up to three attempts.
- Apply through NursingCAS: the spring cycle runs August 1 to September 7, and the fall cycle runs December 1 to January 18.
The BSN accepts California residents only. Students with 96 or more units can’t apply to an impacted major, and Nursing has been impacted since fall 1992. Both local advantages described above can matter here: the 300 local-area points in the freshman ranking and the +0.10 GPA priority that SFSU’s impaction page sets for impacted programs.
How to Get Into SF State for Fall 2027
SFSU’s dates and deadlines page lists four Fall 2027 milestones.
- August 1, 2026: Cal State Apply opens.
- October 1, 2026: application submission begins.
- November 30, 2026: priority deadline for impacted majors.
- May 1, 2027: accept your offer and pay the enrollment deposit.
The page gives no general Fall 2027 closing date for majors that aren’t impacted. The safest move, as CalChannel’s suggestion rather than an SFSU rule, is to submit between October 1 and November 30, 2026. For comparison, the Spring 2027 window closed on October 15, 2026, after an extension.
San Francisco State University SAT Requirements
There are no San Francisco State University SAT requirements: the campus is test-blind, not test-optional. The SFSU Bulletin 2026-2027 puts it plainly.
“In no case will standardized test scores be utilized in making freshman admission decisions.”
The CSU Board of Trustees voted in March 2022 to permanently remove SAT and ACT scores from its admission requirements. If you send scores anyway, they may be used only for math and English placement after you’re admitted.
SF Promise: Outreach and Scholarship, Not Guaranteed Admission
SF Promise is a partnership between SFSU, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and the Mayor’s Office, running since July 2008. It offers outreach and the Corrigan SF Promise scholarship, renewable for four years with a GPA of 2.5 or higher. The current program page, which carries no date, doesn’t mention guaranteed admission.
SFSU Transfer Acceptance Rate and Requirements
SF State admitted 89.1% of undergraduate transfer applicants for Fall 2025, 10,256 of 11,505, and 90.3% of California-resident transfers. From Fall 2021 to Fall 2025, the transfer rate stayed between 87.9% and 91.0%.
| Fall | Applied | Admitted | Rate | Enrolled | CA residents rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14,699 | 13,375 | 91.0% | 2,986 | 91.8% |
| 2022 | 12,483 | 10,995 | 88.1% | 2,305 | 89.0% |
| 2023 | 12,189 | 10,717 | 87.9% | 2,473 | 89.1% |
| 2024 | 11,596 | 10,258 | 88.5% | 2,316 | 89.6% |
| 2025 | 11,505 | 10,256 | 89.1% | 2,323 | 90.3% |
Source: CSU Institutional Research Applications & Admissions dashboard, Undergraduate Transfers (accessed October 17, 2026).
Upper-division transfers need to meet three minimums:
- 60 or more transferable semester units (90 quarter units)
- A college GPA of at least 2.00 in all transferable courses
- The Golden 4 (oral communication, written communication, critical thinking and quantitative reasoning), each completed with a C- or better
Lower-division transfers, with fewer than 60 units, must also meet the freshman A-G GPA minimum from the GPA section above. Impacted majors may require more.
Students who complete an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) get an extra 0.10 on their GPA “for the purpose of the competitive admission process” in impacted programs.
How SF State Compares With SJSU, East Bay, Sonoma and USF
On the same CSU dashboard basis for Fall 2025, SF State admits a larger share of freshmen than SJSU, a similar share to Cal State East Bay, and a smaller share than Sonoma State or the CSU system overall. USF is private and is measured with a different source, IPEDS Fall 2024.
| School | Type | Freshman rate | Yield | Freshman applications vs Fall 2021 | Transfer rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco State | Public (CSU) | 90.3% | 8.2% | +1.5% | 89.1% |
| San José State | Public (CSU) | 78.6% | 16.6% | +24.7% | 65.3% |
| Cal State East Bay | Public (CSU) | 88.2% | 6.2% | -9.5% | 81.0% |
| Sonoma State | Public (CSU) | 94.6% | 4.4% | -4.9% | 88.1% |
| CSU systemwide | Public system | 93.8% | n/a | +18.4% | 87.6% |
| University of San Francisco | Private | 61.7% (IPEDS Fall 2024) | 6.0% (Fall 2024) | n/a | n/a |
| UCSF | Public | No freshman admission (graduate and professional only) | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Source: CSU Institutional Research Applications & Admissions dashboard, Fall 2025 (CSU campuses); IPEDS Fall 2024 via Urban Institute Education Data API (USF); ucsf.edu/about.
Freshman applications to SF State grew 1.5% from Fall 2021 to Fall 2025, compared with 24.7% at San José State and 18.4% across the CSU system. Over the same period, applications fell at Cal State East Bay and Sonoma State.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SFSU the same as USF or UCSF?
No. San Francisco State University is a public campus in the California State University system. The University of San Francisco is a separate, private school. UCSF is dedicated to graduate and professional education, so it doesn’t admit freshmen. SFSU applications go through Cal State Apply.
Is it harder to get into SF State from out of state?
Yes, somewhat. Non-residents have been admitted at a noticeably lower rate than Californians in every recent cycle. They also need a higher A-G GPA, 3.00 or above, to be eligible. Out-of-state students make up a small share of the applicant pool.
Does SF State require the SAT or ACT?
No. SFSU is test-blind, so scores play no part in freshman admission decisions. That’s stricter than a test-optional policy. If you submit scores anyway, they may be used only for math and English placement after you’re admitted.
Can you get into SF State with a 2.5 GPA?
For a California resident or California high school graduate, a 2.5 A-G GPA meets the eligibility minimum. Just below it, applicants go to a multi-factor review rather than an automatic denial. Non-residents need a higher GPA to be eligible. Nursing is a separate and far more competitive process.
When should you apply to SF State for Fall 2027?
Aim for the priority deadline of November 30, 2026, which applies to impacted majors. SFSU’s dates page doesn’t list a general closing date for other majors. Applying before that priority date keeps every option open. Check the page again before you submit, since dates can change.
Does SF Promise guarantee admission for SFUSD students?
Not according to the current SF Promise page. It describes outreach to San Francisco Unified School District students and a renewable scholarship. The page doesn’t mention guaranteed admission. Treat it as support, not as a reserved seat.
Should SF State Be on Your List?
For a California resident who meets the A-G GPA minimum and isn’t aiming for Nursing, the SF State acceptance rate makes the campus a likely admit. The rate has held steady in every recent cycle.
Our take: SF State now admits nearly every eligible applicant and competes for the students who actually enroll. Treat an offer as likely and compare the campus on fit, but if you want Nursing, plan a second route from the start.
Out-of-state applicants and Nursing hopefuls shouldn’t treat SF State as a safety.
Sources
- California State University, Institutional Research. Applications & Admissions dashboard (Fall 2021-2025).
- National Center for Education Statistics. College Navigator: San Francisco State University.
- San Francisco State University. Freshman Admissions.
- San Francisco State University. Impaction.
- San Francisco State University School of Nursing. Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
- San Francisco State University. Dates & Deadlines (Fall 2027).
