California State University, Hayward Admission
California State University, Hayward Undergraduate Program
California State University, Hayward Application

The Facts

California State University, Hayward is a moderately sized branch of the larger CSU state-supported system which includes 22 branch universities throughout the state. CSU Hayward is located in the suburban city of Hayward, California, which is about 20 miles southeast of San Francisco, and is home to over 7,200 undergraduate students and approximately 4,500 graduate and part-time professional students. The university is divided up into several smaller undergraduate and graduate schools, which include programs in the areas of arts, sciences, business and economics, and education. These schools offer broad majors in the areas of biological science, business, communication and the arts, computer and physical science, engineering and environmental design, health professions, as well as social studies (which includes a unique physical fitness and movement studies program.) Some of the most popular major choices are business administration, liberal studies, computer science, and psychology.

Admission to CSU Hayward is not quite as competitive as some of the other CSU member schools; however, more and more qualified students have been applying with each passing admissions cycle. Last year, over 10,000 students applied for admission to the school, approximately 7,000 of those students were accepted, and about 1,800 matriculated. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1000 to 1026, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 19 to 24. Additionally, more than 55% of the admitted students were ranked in the top 25% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of about 3.62.

CSU Hayward has a rather manageable student to faculty ratio of 20:1, which is quite typical for state schools of its size. Most of the general education classes are held in large lecture halls with many students, however, the more specific, upper-level classes tend to have under 25 students, and are primarily discussion and lab work based. In general, students give their professors high marks in terms of accessibility and willingness to help students out; however, many students complain that the administration is impossibly bureaucratic.

The Social Scene

The town of Hayward itself is quite suburban, and doesn’t really offer students much in the way of entertainment, however, San Francisco is only about 20 minutes away by car, and many students head into the city on the weekends. The school consists primarily of commuter students, so the weekend on-campus social life is fairly limited. The university is home to seven fraternities and sororities, and many students who do not live close enough to commute join a Greek organization to take advantage of the built-in social life.

The dating scene is pretty bland, we’re told. There aren’t many people around on the weekends to get to know!

What’s Good

“The area is absolutely beautiful, and being so close to San Francisco is awesome.”

“There are a lot of internship opportunities given to you. Because we have so much business to close, it increases your opportunities.”

“The professors really care. It’s nice to have a three dimensional human being teaching your class.”

What’s Bad

“Going to a commuter school when you’re not a commuter is pretty tough. It gets quite lonely at times.”

“Often, teachers seem to think that their class must be your only class, so they load you up and it’s totally unrealistic.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever figured out how to speak to an actual person within the administration.”

Let the Penn Group help you apply to college.

• View our services
• Send a request now
• Read articles about applying to college