The Abridged version:
- Sacramento State enrolled 31,274 students this fall, the highest number since 2021, when enrollment spiked because of online learning during COVID.
- Enrollment at the campus increased 1.2% over 2024. It has climbed by 6.7% since Fall 2014, more than the 4.1% growth rate for the entire CSU system during the same period.
- CSU campuses in the Bay Area have seen steep drops in their enrollment.
- Sacramento State officials say recruitment efforts are helping the campus increase enrollment.
When first-year Sacramento State student Molly Wood started college this fall, she was warned by others: Arrive early, or you won’t be able to park.
“They were like, ‘get there so early, you’re not going to be able to find a parking lot.’ So, I literally got there at 7 a.m.,” she said.
Even now, three months into the semester, she says parking is regularly full by midmorning. “The parking garages are a stressful place for me,” Wood said.
Several students say they are experiencing full parking lots and packed classes this semester. That’s because enrollment at the campus is on the rise, driven largely by an overall population increase in the Sacramento region and student recruitment efforts made by the university.
This fall, 31,274 students enrolled at Sacramento State. Fall enrollment has not dropped below 30,193 in the past decade.
Sacramento State’s enrollment has held steady — even increasing — at a time when many California State University campuses are facing a steep drop in enrollment numbers, especially those in the San Francisco Bay Area. Enrollment at the campus has increased 6.7% since Fall 2014, outpacing the 4.1% growth rate for the entire CSU system during the same period.
“That is the largest total number of students to ever attend Sacramento State outside of the pandemic era when classes were fully online,” President Luke Wood said in his fall address on Aug. 21.
Enrollment up at Sacramento State, down at a Bay Area campuses
CSU students tend to enroll at campuses close to home, and modest growth in the region has allowed Sacramento State to maintain or slightly increase enrollment.
Sacramento is “kind of an anomaly” when it comes to demographic trends, said April Grommo, assistant vice chancellor for strategic enrollment management at the CSU Chancellor’s Office. “You’re seeing build-out from not just Sacramento’s center, but you have Elk Grove and other areas that have been built up over the last decade or so,” Grommo said.
Oakland and San Francisco, in contrast, have seen population decreases in the past five years.
Sacramento State also has one of the highest freshman acceptance rates among the 22 CSU campuses.
San Francisco State University, Sonoma State University and California State University, East Bay, are all experiencing declining enrollment.
San Francisco State’s enrollment dropped from about 30,000 students in Fall 2015 to about 21,000 students in Fall 2025.
Sonoma State had one of the steepest enrollment losses in the CSU system — dropping from about 9,000 students in Fall 2015 to 5,000 students in Fall 2025.
Enrollment is so low at Sonoma State that students returned to school this fall to empty dorms and the closure of some on-campus housing.
COVID, remote work affect enrollment patterns
Grommo said the pandemic played a role in some of the changing demographics.
Many Northern California campuses rely on students moving there from Southern California, she said, but during COVID, they saw “a lot of students staying more local.”
The rise of remote work has also driven some population changes, experts say.
People leaving the Bay Area tend to move to Sacramento, the northern San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. While those trends existed prepandemic, remote work accelerated the migration during the pandemic.
Sacramento State draws local students
“Most students are coming within a 50-mile radius of the Sacramento State campus,” said Brian Henley, executive director of admissions, outreach and orientation at Sacramento State.
Sacramento State officials attribute the university’s steady enrollment to its “intentional recruitment.” The school focuses on outreach to students in their backyard, Henley said.
“We have very strong relationships with the community colleges in our area,” Henley said. “So, Los Rios, San Joaquin Delta, Sierra Community College, our counselors are there on a very regular basis.”
Sacramento State also has focused on re-enrolling undergraduate students who may have dropped out due to family issues, the pandemic or financial hardship, and focused on recruiting returning students, Henley said.
Student experience at Sacramento State
Citlali Galvan, a community college transfer majoring in psychology, said a lot of her classes are filled.
“A lot of people are fighting to get off the waitlist for just about every single class that I’m taking this semester,” she said.
Outside of classes, Galvan said, amenities at the campus like the wellness center aren’t as affected by enrollment growth. The waitlist for wellness resources, such as therapy groups, moves quickly, she added.
Molly Wood, who commutes to campus from Galt, said she chose Sacramento State because it allowed her to live at home.
“It’s close to home and more affordable than other colleges,” she said, adding that despite parking challenges, amenities like health services are easy to access.
Sacramento State officials said the university “sits just below 80% (parking) occupancy at peak each day” and has “the capacity to meet the parking needs” of residents at Mount Whitney, the university’s new student housing, when it opens in Fall 2026.
The future of enrollment at Sacramento State
Colleges across the nation have been preparing for a drop in enrollment.
“Nearly every state and nearly every college” has been preparing for what’s known as the demographic cliff or “enrollment cliff,” President Wood said in his Fall Address.
The demographic cliff is a 15-year projected decline in college enrollment, starting in 2025. It’s the result of dwindling birth rates following the 2008 Great Recession.
In anticipation of the demographic cliff, Henley said the university has “tried not to be complacent” in its outreach and retention efforts.
“We’re really interested in steady and sustained growth, not just immediate growth,” Henley said. “Part of that is because we want to be able to make sure that we’re offering the resources, the academic advising, the course selection and the housing, that students need to be successful.”
Shelley Ho is a visual journalist with Abridged.