Welcome to the New Student Guide
Many students find themselves excited and eager to get started, yet full of questions once they start their first term of college. You may be about to start New Student Orientation or returning to this New Student Guide (NSG) for helpful reminders. The guide is designed to streamline key resources and connect you with essential information for everyday college student success.
New Student & Family Programs and the First-Year Experience program (for first-year students and new transfer students) are here to support and help you find the pathways to success.
Go Gators!
Important Bookmarks
The New Student Guide Chapters
Learning happens both inside and outside of the classroom and Student Life at SF State is all about creating experiences that facilitate the love of lifelong learning. Whether it is settling into your new campus home, exploring San Francisco, or getting involved in clubs and organizations, SF State has so many incredible opportunities to help you learn, develop and grow.
Start here to know all there is to know about being a successful college student inside and outside the classroom!
Being part of the Gator family means having many people in place to support you on your path to graduation. This chapter highlights our six colleges and the academic advising units that can help you understand and track your degree requirements each semester. You will also learn about campus resources you can connect with for support in your classes.
We are excited for you to start your educational journey with us! In your first semester, connect with faculty and classmates, explore the opportunities San Francisco State has to offer and learn all you can about your degree requirements so you can stay on track for graduation. We know that more than a third of SF State first-time freshmen are the first in their family to attend college and we are ready to support you.
We are excited for you to continue your educational journey with us. In your first semester, plan to connect with faculty and classmates in your major department, explore the opportunities San Francisco State has to offer, and learn all you can about your degree requirements so you can stay on track for graduation.
Text about transition, support, care, mentoring, advising, and troubleshooting.
Learning how to register each semester is an essential skill for every Gator. This chapter provides a breakdown of the registration process and guidance on how to search, enroll and pay for classes. While important University notifications will always be sent to your SF State email, your Student Center provides the key information you need to prepare to enroll in classes each semester.
This chapter focuses on general information every student needs to know about their degree requirements. Everything from general education, graduation requirements, upper-division requirements, and more.
San Francisco State was named one of the most diverse large universities in the United States, and we are proud to welcome a new group of international students to our campus. This chapter provides helpful information and resources to guide you during your first year.
Dean-On-Call Program
The Dean-On-Call Program is a means to provide real-time support to students who may be experiencing difficulties in navigating the university environment.
Visit Dean-On-Call ProgramOneCard/Gator Pass
OneCard serves as a J. Paul Leonard Library card for all students, faculty, and staff. It is also a door access card for residential students. OneCard has a campus declining balance feature that allows access to copy and print stations as well as the ability to make purchases with on-campus merchants. Visit the OneCard Merchants page to see the complete listing of where your OneCard declining balance card feature can be used. The OneCard/Gator Pass also provides transit features through Clipper - your OneCard is also a Clipper card. Clipper is the all-in-one transit card for the Bay Area. It can hold all transit passes, such as the SF University Pass for Muni, Higher Ed discount product for BART or other products for all major Bay Area transit systems. As part of tuition and fees, all students pay $180 each semester for a “Gator Pass”—this set of transit passes afford students a 50% discount on all BART rides to and from Daly City BART Station, as well as unlimited rides on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA)’s Muni, with the exception of cable cars.
Visit OneCard/Gator Pass