Sonoma State University is a public comprehensive university, part of the 23-campus California State University system. The main campus is located east of Rohnert Park, and north of Cotati, California, United States, approximately 10mi south of Santa Rosa and 50mi north of San Francisco. The university is one of the smallest of the 23 CSU campuses in California. Sonoma State offers 92 Bachelor's degrees, 19 Master's degrees, one Doctoral degree, and 11 teaching credentials.HistoryFoundingSonoma State College was established by the California State Legislature in 1960 to be part of the California State College system, with significant involvement of the faculty from San Francisco State University. As with all California State Colleges, Sonoma State later became part of the California State University system. Sonoma opened for the first time in 1961, with an initial enrollment of 250 students. Classes offered took place in leased buildings in Rohnert Park where the college offered its first four-year Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. With the completion of its two main classroom halls, Stevenson Hall, named for politician Adlai Stevenson II, and Darwin Hall, named for Charles Darwin, developer of the theory of natural selection, the college moved to its permanent campus of 215acre in 1966 where the first graduating class received their degrees.
