A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, or a similar entity such as the District of Columbia. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country. Each state supports at least one such system.

Federal funded colleges and universities are limited to military personnel and government employees. Members of foreign militaries and governments also attend some schools. These schools include the United States military academies, Naval Postgraduate School, and military staff colleges.

A state university system normally means a single legal entity and administration, but may consist of several institutions, each with its own identity as a university. Some states—such as California and Texas—support more than one such system.

State universities get subsidies from their states. The amount of the subsidy varies from university to university and state to state, but the effect is to lower tuition costs below that of private universities. As more and more Americans attend college, and private tuition rates increase well beyond the rate of inflation, admission to state universities is becoming more and more competitive.

San Jose State University (often abbreviated San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States. It is the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) system, and holds the distinction of being the oldest public institution of higher education on the West Coast of the United States.

Located in downtown San Jose, the SJSU main campus is situated on 154 acres (62 ha), or roughly 19 square blocks. SJSU enrolls approximately 31,000 students in over 130 different bachelor's and master's degree programs.

SJSU's student population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the nation, with large Asian and Latino enrollments, as well as the highest foreign student enrollment of all master's institutions in the United States.

Popular undergraduate majors at SJSU include business, engineering, visual and performing arts, nursing, psychology, justice studies, biology, kinesiology, journalism and computer science. Popular fields of study among graduate students include engineering, library and information science, education and social work.