Students studying on the lawn in front of Founder's Hall.
At HSU, a typical day in class can mean never setting foot in a classroom at all. Our location—just a few minutes’ drive from several rich eco-systems—is the perfect environment in which to learn the natural sciences. Today’s lecture? Stream restoration in the Trinity Alps. Rock climbers all over the world rely on difficulty ratings to determine which walls they are ready to climb and which walls are beyond their reach. But are these difficulty ratings really valid? These HSU students put the question to the test by using state-of-the-art motion analysis software to document just how difficult it really is to climb rock walls with different difficulty ratings. Satellites and redwood trees? Absolutely. Humboldt State is home to one of the best undergraduate programs in GIS (Geographic information systems) and remote sensing. Here, two students work with surveying and GIS equipment during one of many field trips to Redwood park in Arcata. Getting a room full of fidgety four-year olds to sit still for half an hour can be a challenge. Students from our Child Development program, however, are more than up to the task. They observe and work with children while earning their degrees. Here, two students tackle both The Very Hungry Caterpillar and sign language during story time in the on-campus, Child Development Lab. What if you held a conference and no one yawned? Would it really be a conference at all? Actually, such things happen here all the time. At HSU, we’re dedicated to taking an innovative approach to everything we do. Sometimes that means ditching the name tags, turning off the Power Point presentation and trying something new. When, for instance, was the last time you painted a mural during a conference on education policy? At Humboldt State, you don’t have to compete for your professor’s attention. With an average class size of just 24, our students have an unparalleled opportunity to work alongside and learn directly from their professors The freedom to stand up and express yourself—it’s an essential part of your college experience and it’s one of the things that makes Humboldt State an amazing place to learn. Here a student reads her own poetry to hundreds at a summit on education reform. 'HSU's School of Business is committed to educating students to be responsible in both business and society. That fit my goals and is something I'll carry with me throughout my career.' —Business Major, Cindy Hori, Redwood City, CA Humboldt State is one of the few schools where you can learn how to design, build and operate renewable energy systems. In this case, a student majoring in Environmental Resources Engineering installs solar panels atop our Science building. Humboldt State is dedicated to undergraduate research—it’s one of the things that sets us apart from most universities. Our students do more than stare at chalkboards—they put what they’ve learned into practice. It’s precisely that kind of experience that graduate schools and employers are looking for. Every day, HSU Applied Technology students use the latest computer and industrial design tools to develop innovative technological solutions to social and environmental problems. These two students are gaining hands-on experience with circuit design, analysis, and troubleshooting. Transporting an audience to another world in five minutes flat? It’s no simple task, but Humboldt State Theater, Film and Dance students get plenty of experience doing precisely that. Every year they produce and direct dozens of plays, movies and dance performances. How do you stabilize a weak ankle? Firsthand experience has taught this Athletic Training student the answer to that question. Our Athletic Training students learn how to help injured athletes stay in the game by working with athletes on campus and in the community. You see a handful of mud. They see their future. Undergraduate researchers aboard the Coral Sea examine organisms that they hauled up from the ocean floor themselves. HSU is home to the only undergraduate oceanography program in California and the only true research vessel reserved purely for undergraduate research.

learning here

By the time you apply to college, you’ve spent close to 14,000 hours sitting at a desk, listening to someone lecture you—it just seems a prerequisite to getting an education. Your college experience, however, doesn’t have to be more of the same. Our small class sizes and emphasis on hands-on learning make for a more effective (and exciting) learning process. Click the icons to the left and see what we mean.