History
Chico State started with a gift. In 1887, John Bidwell, founder of the City of Chico, donated eight acres of his cherry orchard so California could have a college in the north part of the state. His generosity and foresight has made it possible for thousands of students to come to Chico State and transform their lives. And his little teacher's school has grown into the sixth ranked comprehensive public university in the West.
Specialties
Founded in 1887, California State University, Chico is the second oldest CSU campus and one of the highest ranked master's level public universities in the West. Popularly known as Chico State, the university has 100 degree programs and majors through its seven colleges and five schools. Many programs, including teacher education and nursing, are known for their innovation and outreach to the University's 12-county service region and beyond. Chico State was the first university in the world offering a graduate degree via satellite and is a distance education trailblazer. Students have won recent national awards in areas such as computer science, journalism, political science and construction management.