California State University, Fresno
55%
Acceptance rate
"2.85%"
Intl. students
$39,842
Tuition/yr
25,000
Enrollment
About California State University, Fresno
Public CSU in Central California. Strong agriculture, engineering, and business programs serving agricultural region.
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university established in 1911 as part of the 23-campus California State University system. Located in Fresno, California's Central Valley, it enrolled approximately 24,310 students in Fall 2024 across undergraduate and graduate programs. The university holds Carnegie Classification as a Doctoral University with High Research Activity and is designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution.
Fresno State offers around 60 bachelor's and 45 master's degree programs across eight colleges. Its strongest programs are in agriculture (Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, with a working 1,011-acre university farm), business (Craig School of Business, AACSB-accredited), and engineering (Lyles College of Engineering, ABET-accredited). The university also has well-regarded programs in health sciences and computer science.
The main campus covers 388 acres on the eastern edge of Fresno, a city of roughly 550,000 people in the agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley. Fresno is about 180 miles southeast of San Francisco and 220 miles north of Los Angeles. The campus includes an on-campus winery that produces award-winning student-made wines, reflecting the university's deep ties to Central Valley viticulture and agribusiness.
World University Rankings
Campus & Location
CA
Suburban
Optional Practical Training (OPT)
All graduates qualify for 12-month OPT. STEM-designated programs (CS, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Sciences) qualify for 24-month STEM OPT extension — 36 months total work authorisation.
For Nepali students
- Fresno State's international undergraduate tuition is approximately $19,921 per semester for Fall 2026 (roughly $39,000–$40,000 annually for tuition and fees), which is significantly lower than comparable private universities and many flagship public universities in the US, making it a cost-accessible option for Nepali families.
- The Dean's Scholarship Tuition Waiver (DSTW) is available specifically to enrolled international students and awarded awards of approximately $1,250–$3,750 per student last year, with over 70 international students receiving it, a concrete partial-funding pathway for Nepali applicants.
- Graduates on F-1 visas are eligible for 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) in any field, and STEM degree graduates (engineering, computer science, agricultural science) qualify for a 24-month STEM OPT extension, providing up to 3 years of US work authorization to build career experience before considering other visa pathways.
- The university's strengths in agriculture, agribusiness, and engineering align with fields where Nepali students with science backgrounds can find strong employment demand in the US and transferable skills back to Nepal's growing agri-tech and infrastructure sectors.
Admission requirements — Nepali equivalents
A rough translation of the published minimums for Nepali applicants:
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