First-time freshmen and transfer applications to the Cal State University have risen by nearly 12 percent compared to fall 2012, according to data provided by President F. King Alexander.
As of Nov. 30, the CSU has received 746,731 first-time freshmen and transfer applications for fall 2013, an increase of 80,781 applications from fall 2012, according to Alexander.
Cal State Long Beach received 82,026 applications for fall 2013, a 7.1 percent increase from fall 2012, according to Alexander.
“I predict [CSULB] will be [the] first or second highest applicant pool in the nation,” Alexander said. “Last year we were second behind only [University of California, Los Angeles].”
According to CSU Spokesman Erik Fallis, the increased interest in higher education and long-term CSU recruiting in high schools and community colleges have likely led to such an increase in applications.
“People have a greater demand for public higher education,” Fallis said.
A short-term reason for the high application number may be due to spring 2013 enrollment limits, according to the CSU website.
The CSU closed applications to 13 of its 23 campuses for spring 2013 in anticipation of a possible $250 million trigger cut that would have been brought on by the failure of Proposition 30.
CSULB was one of the 13 CSUs that closed admissions for spring 2013.
According to Alexander, 234,214 of the fall 2013 applications were from transfer students, an increase of 21.2 percent from fall 2012.
The total number of applications that the CSU received does not equal the number of students who applied, because many students apply to multiple schools in the CSU, according to the CSU website.
According to the CSU website, 10,000 to 15,000 more students may be admitted for fall 2013 since the passage of Prop. 30 prevented the $250 million trigger cut to the CSU.