The ratio of undergraduate students studying business-management compared to foreign languages at Cal State Long Beach is more than 18 to 1, according to new data from the Cal State University.
More than 3,700 CSULB students sought bachelor’s degrees in business-management in the fall, comprising the most popular group of majors on campus, according to new data from the Cal State University.
Business-management, a collection of nine majors at CSULB including accountancy, business administration and marketing, represented the majors of more than 12 percent of CSULB undergraduates, according to the CSU.
College of Business Administration Dean Michael Solt said he was pleased to be in the field of business-management.
“I’m very proud of our college,” he said. “Over the last few years, we’ve been putting more and more effort into our student center for success.”
Solt said the CBA focuses a lot of effort on helping students to get internships, bringing guest speakers to campus and providing workshops for students.
“What distinguishes us is that we begin in the classroom, but we don’t end in the classroom,” Solt said.
The second most popular group of majors on campus in the fall was engineering, according to the CSU website.
Engineering, a group of 17 different majors, saw 3,270 undergraduates enrolled in the fall. These engineering majors represented approximately 10.7 percent of all undergraduate students at CSULB, according to the CSU website.
For junior construction engineering and management major Nathan Hirschfield, his experience in engineering has been fairly positive.
“[Engineering] is surprisingly social,” Hirschfield said. “I’ve had issues getting classes in the past. Some are only offered once a week, and they fill up really quickly. But I’d say there are enough resources.”
The CSULB groups with the next highest number of enrolled undergraduate students were, in decreasing order, fine and applied arts majors, undeclared students and social science majors.
The CSULB groups with the lowest numbers of enrolled students were, however, area studies, architecture and foreign languages.
According to the CSU website, CSULB had 201 undergraduates majoring in foreign languages for fall 2013.
Romance, German and Russian Languages and Literatures Department Chair Markus Muller said the low level of enrollment in foreign language majors is not something new.
“If anything, we’re holding the ground,” Muller said. “Quality [in education] always outweighs quantity.”
Muller said that while the number of foreign language majors is low compared to the number of students studying business and engineering, current students should not be deterred from pursuing a foreign language degree.
“I think it’s a myth that [the] Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines pay so much money,” Muller said. “[The RGRLL department has] good, high-quality graduates that find jobs.”
Muller said that the RGRLL department has been affected by budget cuts in recent years. He added that the department has started offering hybrid courses that allow students to cover more material in a shorter period of time.
Compared to other campuses and the CSU as a whole, foreign languages consistently ranked among the lowest in terms of enrollment, according to the CSU website.
Compared to other CSU campuses, though, the top majors at CSULB differed significantly.
At Cal State Fullerton, the top five groups of majors for fall 2013 were business-management, education, health professions, communications and psychology, according to the CSU website.
Meanwhile, the most popular majors at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo were engineering, agriculture, business-management, education and biological sciences, according to the CSU website.
Assistant Sports Editor Alex Campos contributed to this report.