California State University, Fresno, often referred to as Fresno State, is one of the 23 campuses comprising the California State University system, located at the northeast edge of Fresno, California, USA. U.S. News and World Report ranks Fresno State 6th in public regional universities in California, 9th in top public universities in the West, and 37th in all regional universities, both public and private, in the West. Fresno State has a selective admission rate of 55% The campus sits at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the San Joaquin Valley. The city of Fresno is the fifth largest city in California. The university is within an hour's drive of many mountain and lake resorts and within a three hour drive of both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Fresno State operates on a semester schedule.