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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

KPCC Archive

Cal State receives a record number of applicants

Students at Cal State San Marcos as they graduate.
Students at Cal State San Marcos as they graduate.
(
Rennett Stowe via Flickr Creative Commons
)

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Cal State receives a record number of applicants
Cal State receives a record number of applicants

Amid budget-driven caps on enrollment, a record number of people applied to the Cal State University system for the fall term. System officials released the numbers Thursday.

Cal State fielded about 621,000 freshmen and transfer applicants – 4,000 more than at the same time last year. The 23-campus system admitted 319,000, just over half the students who applied.

That’s many more than the admissions rate a year before, when budget constraints limited the number of incoming undergrads to 282,000. But the acceptances for this fall still reflect Cal State administrators’ worry over how much they’ll get from the legislature.

Unless California can close a $26 billion budget gap, the public university system will lose half a billion dollars in state subsidies next fiscal year.

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