San Diego State University anchors the College Area neighborhood from a 560-acre campus centered on College Avenue at Montezuma Road in the 92115 ZIP. Founded in 1897 as the San Diego Normal School, SDSU is the oldest institution of higher education in San Diego and part of the 23-campus California State University system. The campus sits at the geographic center of a residential and commercial corridor that extends south to Chollas Creek and the neighborhood green space at Chollas Lake Park, drawing the surrounding community into the university's orbit. Fall 2025 enrollment reached a record 41,184 students across eight colleges and more than 200 degree programs at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education designates SDSU as an R1 research university with very high research activity, and 2023 grant funding totaled $192.2 million — the highest figure in university history. Snapdragon Stadium, a 35,000-seat venue that opened in September 2022 on the former Qualcomm Stadium site, hosts Aztec football, San Diego FC of Major League Soccer, and San Diego Wave FC of the NWSL. The broader SDSU Mission Valley development will phase in housing, retail, hotels, and 80 acres of parkland over 15 years. WASC Senior College and University Commission accreditation underpins the academic structure, and federal designations as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution reflect the campus demographic. The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I — currently in the Mountain West Conference, with a move to the Pac-12 beginning in 2026 — and CIF-San Diego Section governs the high school athletics pipeline that feeds San Diego's collegiate programs. John F. Kennedy delivered the 1963 commencement address at the then-San Diego State College, receiving the first honorary doctorate awarded by a California State College — a ceremony now recognized as California Historical Landmark 798.