Cal State LA
Cal State LA is the premier comprehensive public university in the heart of Los Angeles. Ranked number one in the United States for the upward mobility of its students, Cal State LA is dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good.
The university was founded in 1947 and has provided ladders of opportunity for first-generation college students, veterans, immigrants and families throughout Los Angeles in pursuit of better lives. Of the current student profile, 57% are first-generation college students. Approximately 71% of all students are Latino, and 83% come from Los Angeles, with 75% from within a 14-mile radius of the university.
The university has eight colleges recognized for outstanding academic programs and professors who are accomplished scholars and teachers. Cal State LA features nationally ranked programs in criminalistics, engineering and nursing. The National Science Foundation lists Cal State LA as the top baccalaureate institution of origin for Latino science and engineering Ph.D. recipients among all undergraduate and master’s colleges and universities in the continental U.S.
Cal State LA is also home to an Intercollegiate Athletics Division that features 14 programs and has achieved national success in NCAA Division II competition. The Golden Eagles student-athletes practice and compete in the Billie Jean King Sports Complex. The men’s soccer program is the reigning NCAA Super Region 4 Champion and California Collegiate Athletic Association champion and was the runner up in the 2020 NCAA Championship. Student-athletes at Cal State LA excel in the classroom and on the fields, courts and tracks on which they compete.
As part of its mission of community engagement, the university established Cal State LA BioSpace to promote a thriving bioscience ecosystem. The initiative provides emerging entrepreneurs with facilities, resources, training and knowledge to launch startup ventures and spur regional economic development. In fall 2020, the university will open the Rongxiang Xu Bioscience Innovation Center, a 20,000-square-foot facility at the southern gateway of the campus.
Cal State LA’s Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility is at the forefront of California’s efforts to become a national leader in the use of zero-emission vehicles. The facility was the first in the world to sell hydrogen by the kilogram to members of the public who operate fuel cell electrical vehicles.
The university’s Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center is the largest municipal, regional collaborative crime center in the U.S. The center brings together the crime labs of the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and houses the Cal State LA School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics and the California Forensic Science Institute.