The Hardman Rankings

← World University Rankings 2026

San Diego State University

United StatesROR 0264fdx42
=688
World University Rankings 2026 · 90% range 424–1336 of 2,287 · score 39.4
Research Index =841

How it scores

Research
62
Alumni outcomes
86
Admissions & earnings
80/243

Research and Alumni outcomes are percentiles among 2,287 universities; alumni outcomes are counted per student. Admissions & earnings is the position among universities in the same country (United States).

Admissions, outcomes and alumni

Admit rate
36.2% src
Yield (admits who enrol)
22% src
Median earnings 10 years after entry
$64,909 src
40-year return on investment (Georgetown CEW)
$2.17M src
Graduation rate (6 years)
76% src
Rhodes Scholars, 2021–26
0 src
Internationally notable alumni (Wikidata)
42 src
Heads of state or government (Wikidata)
0 src
Founders, billionaires and $30M+ alumni
not on the published top lists; estimated
Students (undergraduate headcount / total FTE, IPEDS)
35,377 / 35,331 src

Each figure links to its source. Admissions and earnings figures are comparable only within a country.

Research Index

A · Quality
39.2
B · Strength
29.1

Percentiles among 1,305 ranked universities. Rank on quality alone: =808. On strength alone: =925. The Research Index scores research only; admissions, earnings and alumni outcomes are scored in the overall ranking where data exists.

The numbers behind it (2020–2023)

Papers in the top 10% of their field
9.0% (8.1%–9.9%)
Papers in the top 1% of their field
0.9% (0.6%–1.1%)
Top-10% papers (fractional count)
198
All papers (fractional count)
2,197
International co-authored
33.6%
Open access
67.3%
Papers from 2020–23 since retracted
3 (0.48 per 1,000)

Core publications, fractional counting, field-normalised citation shares. Brackets show Leiden’s stability interval. Collaboration and open-access shares use full counting and aren’t field-normalised. Retraction counts come from the Retraction Watch database and include publishers’ mass retractions as well as honest-error retractions; a retraction is not by itself evidence of misconduct, and the count is never scored.

By field

Biomedical & health sciences=920range 751–1116 of 1,671
Life & earth sciences=519range 363–709 of 1,092
Mathematics & computer science=1062range 868–1222 of 1,391
Physical sciences & engineering=993range 733–1299 of 1,742
Social sciences & humanities=660range 490–810 of 1,262

Position over time

top 30%2006–2009: 279 of 5712020–2023: 841 of 1,305

The same method applied to each 4-year publication window. The number of ranked universities grows from period to period, so position is shown as a share of the field.

How other rankings place it

=841Research Index 2026
–QS 2027 (not in top 100)
–THE 2027 (not in top 100)
–ARWU 2026 (not in top 100)

Other rankings are cited for comparison. The Research Index measures research only; QS and THE also use reputation surveys and figures universities submit, and ARWU counts prize winners and total output.

Prize winners

No Nobel, Fields, Turing or Abel laureates linked to this university in Wikidata.