California State University, Chico
university in California, United States
California State University, Chico (Chico State) is a public university in Chico, California, United States. It was founded in 1887 as one of about 180 "normal schools" founded by state governments in the 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing public common schools. Some closed but most steadily expanded their role and became state colleges in the early 20th century and state universities in the late 20th century. It is the second oldest campus in the California State University system. As of the fall 2020 semester, the university had a total enrollment of 16,630 students. The university offers 126 bachelor's degree programs, 35 master's degree programs, and four types of teaching credentials. Chico is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).
History
On March 12, 1887, a legislative act was enacted to create the Northern Branch of the California State Normal School. Less than a month later, Chico was chosen as the location. In 1887, General John Bidwell donated 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land from his cherry orchard.
The public source identifies “California State University, Chico” as university in California, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around California, State and University.
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1026912. VIAF identifies the subject as 154232739. The Library of Congress control number is n80050754. Authority coordinates are 39.730, -121.847. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1887 and 2020.
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This entry incorporates text from “California State University, Chico” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.