California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Bakersfield on a campus, becoming the 20th school in the

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

system. The university offers 39 different

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

programs, 17

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

programs, and a doctoral program in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.). As of fall 2021, there were more than 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students at either the main campus in Bakersfield or the satellite campus, Antelope Valley Center in

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the popul ...

. CSU Bakersfield has more than 59,000 alumni from its four schools: Arts and Humanities; Business and Public Administration; Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering; and Social Sciences and Education. The university is primarily a commuter campus serving the city of Bakersfield. CSU Bakersfield's

petroleum geology Petroleum geology is the study of the origins, occurrence, movement, accumulation, and exploration of hydrocarbon fuels. It refers to the specific set of geological disciplines that are applied to the search for hydrocarbons ( oil exploration). ...

program is the only one offered by a public university west of the Rockies. The university is a

Hispanic-serving institution A Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) is defined in U.S. federal law as an accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institution of higher education with 25% or higher total undergraduate Hispanic or Latino full-time equivalent (FTE ...

. Alumni include local, state, and federal politicians, including one former

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

History

CSUB owes its founding to the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960, which formalized the creation of the CSU system, initially as the "California State Colleges" system. The areas in the southern

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

had been demanding a four-year university since the 1950s. After considering several locations, including nearby Delano and parts of Kings and

Tulare County Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lake ...

, a steering committee decided on Bakersfield because it was the largest isolated metropolitan area in the United States without a four-year university at that time. Their decision was turned into a bill by Bakersfield's State Senator Walter W. Stiern, ratified by the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

and signed into law by Governor

Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he ...

. Under these rules, the school was authorized as Kern State College, in 1965, and founded as California State College, Bakersfield in 1968. First classes were held on October 1, 1970. In 1982, the California State College system became the California State University system. The school changed to its present name in 1988, when it was granted university status.

Presidents

* Paul F. Romberg (1967–1973) * Jacob P. Frankel (1974–1983) * Tomas A. Arciniega (1983–2004) * Horace Mitchell (2004–2018) * Lynnette Zelezny (2018–2023) * Vernon B. Harper (2024–present)

Academics

Cal State Bakersfield academics are grouped into four schools with the exception of

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

programs: * School of Arts and Humanities (A&H) * School of Business and Public Administration (BPA) * School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering (NSME) * School of Social Sciences and Education (SSE) Together, the four schools offer 39 baccalaureate degrees, 17

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

degrees, and one educational doctorate. Popular majors for

undergraduates Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

in 2018 included

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

(Management and Operations) at 19.39%,

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

and

Sciences Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, General Studies and

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

at 12.82% and

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

(General) at 8.53%. While popular majors for graduates were

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

(General) at 35.28%,

Social Work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

at 20.56% and Student

Counseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of c ...

and Personnel Services at 9.44%. On May 24, 2019, at the 49th annual undergraduate commencement ceremony, CSU Bakersfield awarded 2,312 bachelor's degrees, a 28% year-over-year increase and a record for the university. On May 22, 2019, 462 graduate degrees, including the university's first 12 doctoral degrees, were awarded at the annual hooding ceremony.

Research

The Office of Grants, Research, and Sponsored Programs (GRASP) provides administrative support for student and faculty research. External grant funding grew from 2014/15 to 2016/17, with active awards increasing from 54 to 70 and total funding increasing from $10M to $14.7M. Institutions that have been established as part of university research include: * Business Research and Education Center * California Energy Research Center (CERC) * California Well Sample Repository * Center for Economic Education and Research (CEER) * Center for Environmental Studies * Kegley Institute of Ethics * Political Research Center Cal State Bakersfield conducts scientific research using advanced facilities and technologies. Facilities include the Materials Science Engineering Lab, Sediment Analysis Lab, Computer Mapping and Simulation Lab, Plant Physiology Lab, and Elemental Composition Lab, Wireless Communications Lab, Robotics Lab, Power Systems Lab, VLSI/Circuits Lab, Cognitive Processes Lab, Behavioral Neuroscience Lab, Social Cognition Lab, and more. Researchers on campus have access to advanced equipment including scanning electron microscopy, high resolution CAT scanning, and 2D gel electrophoresis. Active areas of research include synthesizing polymers from renewable resources and geologic CO₂ storage. The California Energy Research Center (CERC) was announced in 2013 to foster collaborations between CSUB students, faculty, and the Kern County energy industries. Dr. Alan Fuchs became director of CERC in 2017. The California Energy Research Center will be housed in the 53,000 square-foot Energy and Engineering Innovation Center after its completion in 2023.

Rankings

*In 2025, ranked 295th out of the top 500 rated private and public colleges and universities in America by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

. Also, ranked 137th among public colleges and 70th in the west by Forbes. *In 2021, ranked 25th for "Top Public Schools" by '' U.S. News & World Report'' in the Regional Universities West category. * In 2021, ranked 28th for schools in "Top Performers on

Social Mobility Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location within a given socie ...

", by ''U.S. News & World Report'' in the Regional Universities West category. * In 2021, ranked tied for 51 in "Regional Universities West", by ''U.S. News & World Report''. *In 2021, ranked 25 in Best Bang for the Buck, 68th in Master's University b
Washington Monthly
* In 2020, ranked tied for 92st in "Best Undergraduate

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

Programs" where doctorates not offered, by ''U.S. News & World Report''. * In 2020, ranked tied for 221st in Undergraduate

Nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

where doctorates not offered, by ''U.S. News & World Report''. * In 2020, ranked tied for 52nd overall out of 127 schools in "Regional Universities West", by ''U.S. News & World Report''. * In 2020, ranked tied for 24th out of 66 "Top Public Schools" by '' U.S. News & World Report'' in the Regional Universities West category. * In 2020, ranked tied for 31st out of 124 schools in "Top Performers on

", by ''U.S. News & World Report'' in the Regional Universities West category. * In 2020, ranked tied for 91st of 220 schools in "Best Undergraduate

Programs" where doctorates not offered, by ''U.S. News & World Report''. * In 2020, ranked 9th in the "Best Bang for the Buck Colleges" category out of 215 schools in the U.S. western region by ''

Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine primarily covering United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine also publishes an annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which ser ...

''. * In 2019, ranked 17th out of 606 "Master's Universities" by ''Washington Monthly'' based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. * In 2017, ranked 3rd in the nation for upward mobility by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. * In 2014, ranked 20th in the United States by Payscale and CollegeNet's Social Mobility Index college rankings. * In 2014, ranked 39th in the United States by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine in a list of the top 100 universities.

Athletics

CSU Bakersfield is currently an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

school. The Roadrunners began the transition process in 2006 and became a full Division I member in July 2010. Following a period as one of a small number of Division I independents, CSU Bakersfield joined the Western Athletic Conference in July 2013 for most sports. For

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, CSUB competes in the

Pac-12 conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

. CSUB wrestling is the institution's original Division-I sport and has placed 3rd (1996) and 8th (1999) in the NCAA D-I Wrestling Championships. The men's and women's basketball teams compete on campus at the Icardo Center. On June 1, 2006, CSU Bakersfield president, Dr. Horace Mitchell, formally announced that CSUB would raise $6 million over a five-year period for the additional costs for the athletics program. Part of the additional costs were to start a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

program and a women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

program. In September 2011, CSUB accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference for baseball. Rudy Carvajal was CSUB's

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

from 1972 until his retirement on December 31, 2010. In 2005, Carvajal received the prestigious CSU Wang Family Award. Under Carvajal's leadership, CSUB has 30 national championships and received the Sears Directors Cup in 1998. Nearly 60,000 people attend NCAA sporting events at CSU Bakersfield. On May 17, 2007, CSUB announced that Bill Kernen would be the school's first baseball coach, with the school's first official season beginning in spring of 2009. On January 8, 2011, Jeff Konya assumed the position of

. Kenneth "Ziggy" Siegfried was named director of athletics on August 20, 2015. On November 27, 2017, CSUB president Dr. Horace Mitchell announced that CSUB had accepted an invitation to join the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

. The Roadrunners will remain a member of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

until July 1, 2020, at which point it will begin a full membership in the Big West.

Athletic achievements

National Division II championships

*Men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

: 1993, 1994, 1997 *Men's swimming and diving: 1986–1993, 1998, 2000–2002, 2004 *Wrestling: 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980–1983, 1987 *Men's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

: 1997 *Softball: 1988, 1989, 1990 *Women's volleyball: 1989 *Women's tennis: 1977 (AIAW)

Student life

Admissions

Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment
In fall of 2013, CSUB enrolled its largest freshman class of over 1,300 students. As of fall 2018 CSU Bakersfield has the largest enrollment percentage of unknown Americans and along with CSU Chico the second largest enrollment percentage of Native Americans in the Cal State system.

Clubs and organizations

CSU Bakersfield has 120 recognized student clubs and organizations (including seven Greek Organizations: Phi Sigma Sigma, Gamma Phi Beta, Nu Phi Chi, Theta Sigma Chi, Kappa Delta Nu, Delta Zeta Tau, and

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

) as of spring 2018. Each year, the top juniors, seniors, and graduate students receive membership invitations to join

Alpha Chi Alpha Chi National College Honor Society (or ) is an American collegiate honor society recognizing achievements in general scholarship. It was formed in 1922 by nineteen schools in Texas; however, the first official meeting to discuss the foundi ...

through the California Iota chapter of the national honor society. The Associated Students Inc. (ASI) is the recognized student government and is known for having an active role on campus. The Bakersfield campus has a Student Union and a Recreation Center.

Enrollment and dormitories

CSUB is predominantly a commuter school, drawing its student body from a mix of recent high school graduates in the local area and working people returning to school or pursuing a degree part-time. While the majority of students live off-campus, the campus dorms can accommodate up to 324 students, or under 5% of the 2002 enrollment figure of 7,700. Space in the dorms has historically been plentiful, with single-occupancy rooms often available and one entire dorm devoted to faculty offices through the mid-1990s. However, space is now impacted and usually fills up quickly. New dorms opened in 2015. The six buildings comprising the original (West) dorm complex are each named after locations in

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

's ''The Lord of the Rings'' novel: Rivendell, Rohan, Entwood, Numenor, Dobry, and Lorien. Dorm facilities include a first floor lounge in each building, a dining commons, a swimming pool, a sand volleyball court, a pond, and a parking lot. CSUB has added a new dorm complex called ''Student Housing East'' on the northeast end of campus. The original dormitories have been partially repurposed for use as offices.

Tradition

The CSUB Fight Song and Alma Mater were selected through a structured contest initiated by the student government, Associated Students Inc. (ASI). The winner of the Fight Song Contest was a current music student, Gwendolyn Wilcox, and the winner of the Alma Mater Contest was a CSUB alumnus and current high school music instructor, Bill Ingram.

Notable alumni

* Roy Ashburn, California State Senator – BA in Public Administration, 1983 * John W. Ayers, behavioral epidemiologist – BA, Political Science, 2006 * Vincent Brothers, American mass murderer – MA, Education * Dushyant Chautala, Indian Politician, Member of Parliament – BS, Business Administration, 2014 * Greg Colson, multimedia artist – BA, Fine Arts 1978 * Jeff Colson, artist, recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship – BA, Fine Arts 1979 * Austin Davis, Major League Baseball pitcher for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

* Jeffery Elwell, president of

Eastern New Mexico University Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU or Eastern) is a public university with a main campus in Portales, New Mexico, and two associate degree-granting branches, one at Ruidoso and one at Roswell. ENMU is New Mexico's largest regional comprehensi ...

– BA, English, 1979 * Kathleen O'Neal Gear, archaeologist and author * Jeremy Gunn, Stanford men's soccer coach – BS, Business Administration 1993, MBA 1999 * Matt Harris, American screenwriter – BA, English 1991 * Rich Herrera sports radio personality * Tucker Knight, WWE wrestler * Brandon Landers, American contemporary artist *

Lyle Martin Lyle Martin (born March 25, 1985) is an American soccer player. Career College and amateur Martin made his debut in the football field in 2004, and played college soccer at California State University, Bakersfield, appearing in 79 career game ...

, first American soccer player to play in the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...

, U.S. politician, 55th

, Member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from the

California's 20th congressional district California's 20th congressional district is a congressional district in California's congressional districts, California including much of the southern and southeastern part of the state's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The distri ...

-BS, Marketing, 1989; MBA 1994 Scott_Wilk

* Stephen Neal, New England Patriot, NCAA and world champion wrestler – BS, Physical Education 1999 *

Tito Ortiz Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz () is an American politican and retired mixed martial artist and Submission grappling, submission grappler. Ortiz is best known for his career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC ...

, mixed martial artist and politician. * Scott Wilk serving in the California State Senate. *

Gyasi Zardes Gyasi A. Zardes (born September 2, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward. Born in Hawthorne, California, Zardes was part of the LA Galaxy youth academy before playing college soccer for Cal State Bakersfield. ...

, Major League Soccer player for

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 charter clubs of the league. ...

and member of the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...

Notes

References

External links

*
CSU athletics website
{{Authority control

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

California State University, Bakersfield Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Universities and colleges established in 1965 Education in Bakersfield, California Universities and colleges in Kern County, California 1965 establishments in California