About 10,000 fewer students will be admitted to California State University campuses in the coming spring and fall semesters, Chancellor Charles Reed said this morning.
These cuts represent only a small portion of the chancellor's three-year plan, which will ultimately lower enrollment by 40,000 students. The plan has already enacted strategies such as furloughs, fee increases and layoffs after the CSU system lost $564 million from its budget last year.
"Denying students access to the CSUs is one of the worst things that can be done, especially during a recession," Reed said. "But there is a one-to-one relationship between the amount of money you have and the number of students you can educate."
Enrollment for CSUs reopened Oct. 1 after closing admissions to transfer students for the spring 2009 semester. So far, CSUs have seen a record 266,000 student applications. The applications period will close for most CSUs on Nov. 30, while an unspecified handful will stay open for four to six more weeks, Reed said.
This year has seen a 127 percent increase in applications from community college transfer students since enrollment reopened last month.
"It's very clear that the sheer number of students that have applied has just been massive," Reed said.
Applicants who live near a university or are in its target area will have priority over other applicants. However, all applications will be considered, Reed said.
Officials from the CSU are currently preparing a request for $884 million from the state. The amount is what Reed called a "recovery and reinvest budget" for the 2010-11 academic year.
"Will we get all that?" Reed said. "No, but we need to talk about investing in students, California's future and asking the governor and Legislature to make higher education a much higher priority."
The $884 million includes $310 million that the Legislature removed from the CSU budget two years ago, a request for $300 million in general funds and $283 million to be used partly to keep faculty and staff positions, Reed said.
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