San Diego State University is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU has about 35,000 students and 2,600 faculty members on an 1,300-acre campus.
SDSU offers bachelor’s degrees in 87 undergraduate and graduate areas of study within its eight colleges: Arts and Letters; Business Administration; Education; Engineering; Health and Human Services; Information Sciences and Technology; International Studies and Languages; Science and Mathematics. The university also offers two joint doctoral programs: one with Scripps Institution of Oceanography in marine sciences and one with The Rady School of Management at UC San Diego (RadyUSD) business administration. In addition to offering academic degrees, SDSU is home to 16 NCAA Division I athletic teams that compete as the Aztecs.
SDSU’s main campus is located east of downtown San Diego on Montezuma Mesa at an elevation of 500 feet above sea level. The mesa topography provides panoramic views of the city skyline, Mission Valley, Coronado Bridge and the Pacific Ocean beyond. The campus spans more than 200 acres (0.81 km2) including natural open spaces such as monte cielo (“sky mountain”), canyons, chaparral habitats, eucalyptus groves, vernal pools,:12–14 lagoons:9–10 – all remaining vestiges of what was once a large wetland area that existed during the last ice age when portions were submerged under shallow inland seas.:107 The site originally contained three freshwater ponds or lakes connected by streams flowing over marshy ground into Mission Bay::26 Lago Alamar (also called Laguna Grande), Lago Culebra (“snake lake”):185–187and Lago Guajome (“frog lake”). When purchased from Mission Indians in 1848 by Lieutenant Andrew Gray for $1,400 these bodies of water were renamed “Grey Lakes” after him.. These features were largely remodeled during subsequent settlement which began in earnest following completion nearby Camp Kearny military base (later Naval Training Center San Diego)in 1917