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CSU Long Beach will see fewer students, along with the system's 22 other campuses (Photo by LA Wad via LAist Featured Photos/Flickr)
Students seeking admission to any of the California State University's 23 campuses may find they'll have to make other plans in the coming academic years, since the system intends to go ahead with their plan to reduce enrollment "by 40,000 students over the next two years to contend with a $564-million budget cut for the 2009-10 fiscal year," reports the LA Times. These cuts come when the CSU has seen a dramatic increase in applications: 53% overall from the same period last year. While 32% belongs to hopeful freshmen, the increase at this time is most likely due to hopeful transfer students, who found that applications were not being accepted for them last spring at all.
Many applicants are drawn to the CSU because of its relative affordability (though tuition has been hiked multiple times in recent years) and the opportunity they extend to incoming students to matriculate while completing some of their remediation work or core work not completed at community college. However, students the latter category may find the CSU locking them out based on those obligations.
"[W]e cannot educate more students with less," says Chancellor Charles Reed, in defense of the impending enrollment limits. The "less" comes from the crippling state-level budget cuts that have left campuses with no choice but to slash course offerings, ration resources, and put nearly all employees on mandatory furloughs. Oh, and raise tuition, again: "The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the new budget -- which may include a 10% fee hike -- next week before it goes to the governor and Legislature."
