As many as 10,000 students will be turned away from the California State Universitysystem in the 2009-2010 academic year due to California ‘s current financial state. The CSU’s no longer have the resources necessary to accommodate the number of students they have in the past due to our country’s worsening economic state. Graduating high school seniors will be most impacted by this situation since they are third priority in registration. First priority will be given to students already enrolled in a CSU and then to fully eligible community college transfer students. “It will be particularly important that community college students make sure theyare fully eligible for admissions, otherwise they may not get admitted,” JacquelineEscobar, Counselor/Transfer Center director, said. According to Wiggsy Sivertsen, Director of Counseling Services at San Jose State,this is the first time the CSU system, the nation’s largest four-year system, willnot be able to find a place to accommodate all of it’s applicants. Administratorsat SJSU say something has to be done or the risk of their campus being overwhelmedwill rise.
“I think it’s a very serious and very sad situation,” Sivertsen said. “From my standpoint the people of California have got to get a clue. When inflation happensin their household it certainly happens for us too. They don’t want to pay for it, they just want it and unfortunately that’s not the way the world works.”
With spots tightening up at the majority of the CSU campuses, officials have comeup with a new catchment area as a way of admitting students. Campuses will guaranteeadmission to applicants applying within their specific catchment area. Studentshere at Skyline will have guaranteed admission to SFSU with the new catchment areas.
As campuses begin limiting enrollment, Escobar believes that “we are going to seetighter restrictions regarding when students can apply to campuses.” Some campusesmay also increase their admissions requirements, such as requiring that studentscomplete more than the 30 required general education units before transferring.
In the past, the CSU’s have been known to accept all applicants who met the minimumrequirements. However, the budget in California is in such a dismal state that the resources are few and far between to accommodate all the students.
According to Escobar, The California Master Plan for Higher Education requires thatthe CSU’s serve the upper 1/3 of high school graduates and that 60% of admissionslots be reserved for upper-division transfers. However, given the current financialsituation, this is no longer possible.
Skyline faculty and staff are expecting to see their numbers increase as studentsenroll to finish their lower-division coursework. Along with the enrollment cuts, Sivertsen believes there will also be a hike in tuition prices to help close the financial gap. With all the issues going on at the CSU’s Escobar advises students to complete allof their lower-division coursework at Skyline and make sure they meet the minimumadmissions requirements. It is also very important to meet with your counselor to ensure you are on the right track for transferring.
Minimum Admissions Requirements2.0 gpa for non-impacted majors only60 CSU transfer unitsof the 60 CSU transfer units, complete 30 general education units to include theGolden Four: speech communications, written communications, a critical thinking course, math course