Chico highlight
California State University, Chico
A comprehensive university founded in 1887, now the second-oldest campus in the California State University system, with more than 14,800 students and a deep integration into Chico's community and economy.
California State University, Chico traces its founding to 1887, when it began as the Northern Branch of the State Normal School. It became independent in 1921 and joined the California State University system in 1961. Today it stands as the second-oldest campus in the CSU system and has grown to serve more than 14,800 students across more than 300 programs of study. The campus sits on traditional lands of the Mechoopda people.
The university operates as a significant presence in Chico's economy and civic life. Its campus sprawls across a tree-lined setting, home to an 800-acre working farm, ecological reserves totaling more than 7,800 acres, a million-volume library, and extensive athletic and research facilities. Nearly half of its students are first-generation college attendees, and the university is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Chico State has earned recognition as a Top Public School in the West by U.S. News & World Report for more than two decades.
For families in Chico, the university and the households it brings shape the community's rhythm and values. Student housing, family neighborhoods, and the presence of educators and researchers create a particular kind of town where education and planning for the future are embedded in daily conversation. That same orientation toward the future is what brings families to think carefully about life insurance—about the coverage that would keep their household steady if an income were suddenly gone.