I can only speak for the business department since I transfered from a Junior College and had all my general education out of the way. I wasn't impressed. I felt that the classes were just as easy, if not easier, than my JC. There was only one class that I felt what I was learning was really relevant and I felt the professor was easily the best at the school in my experience. Hands down, without a doubt, best professor. International Business 680: Global Strategic Management with Professor Ungson.
He taught his course based on being able to break down a company to figure out their business model and then using that information to create a business report that displayed the information in a concise way that executives would want to see. He's brilliant. One of his students actually turned his teaching into a product that he sold to businesses. Not an SFSU student. He's taught at a couple different institutions.
I attended every class meeting because I knew what I was experiencing was real education. While I was in his class I felt like I was at Harvard. His lectures were once a week for three hours yet they went by quicker than all of my ninety minute classes that met twice a week. I can't say enough good things about Professor Ungson. I wish he taught all my classes. I feel like then my education would mean something.
Which brings me to my biggest complaint. I was content with the ease I went through the business school to get my degree. It's all I wanted really. Just the piece of paper that said I did it, I graduated. But I don't feel that my degree has any merit. I feel it's like a high school diploma. SFSU has a lot of international students, especially in the business department. And there were a lot of these students who had English as a second language. They weren't very good at presentations, it was difficult for them to read and write in English, and yet they passed the same classes as me. I'm not trying to insult those students, it's just a fact. They received a degree from the United States and their English was limited. How well were they able to understand the material? I wonder. It didn't matter, though. They passed their classes and got the same piece of paper as me.
After attending SFSU I feel as though I settled for a second rate education. I felt like I should've gone to a Cal Berkeley or a UCLA. Or course I would've had to take my education more seriously when I was younger, but that's besides the point. The point is that SFSU isn't that great academically.
I'd say that about 75{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of my general classes only had reading and multiple choice tests. After taking the tests the material was often forgotten. The material wasn't presented in a way that stimulated my retention. Now that's not entirely the professor's fault. Some of the material I just didn't find that exciting, like accounting for instance. But I felt as though the grade scales were often designed to pass students. In my accounting 100 course, a passing grade was a 55{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}. After all, you can't get money from students if they're dropping out.
When I got into my major course work the classes changed slightly. Instead of just reading and taking tests, they added group work. During my last semester I was taking six classes. Each class had a group project due. Six classes, six groups. Besides the IBUS680 class I talked about earlier, all the group work did was teach us how to divide work and complete our specific parts. They didn't necessarily help me learn or retain the material.