Public Service

The California State University (CSU) trains the majority of California's leaders and policymakers. Approximately 64 percent of Californians with master's degrees in public administration studied at the CSU, as well as 35 percent of those with bachelor's degrees. In addition, 49 percent of Californians with bachelor's degrees in city, urban, community, and regional planning studied at the CSU.

CSU graduates impact state and federal policy through their leadership in government and nonprofit organizations. For example, Cal Poly alumna Hilda L. Solis serves as U.S. Secretary of Labor and as a member of the President's Cabinet, and Sheryl Chalupa, who serves as president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of South Central California, received her bachelor's and master's degrees from CSU Bakersfield.

Did you know:

  • CSU Sacramento’s Center for California Studies is one of California’s only multidisciplinary, university-based institutes addressing California policy issues. The center administers the Capital Fellows Program internship, which has been named one of the top 10 internships in the nation and numbers state and federal legislators among its alumni.
  • CSU Dominguez Hills’ California African American Political and Economic Institute studies African American economic and political development issues in California and designs and implements training programs for current and future African American leaders.
  • San Francisco State University trains many of the state’s future lawyers and lawmakers, ranking among the top 20 undergraduate schools whose alumni go on to be admitted to the State Bar. In fact, many attorneys who have received their undergraduate degrees from San Francisco State have advanced to holding public office.