Cal State system gets record number of applications

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A record number of students are applying to attend California State University campuses next fall, and officials are urging those who haven't yet applied to get their paperwork in by the end of the month.

In the five weeks since the application period opened, 266,152 students have applied to attend a Cal State campus -- an increase of 53 percent compared with the same time last year.

The number of applications from transfer students has more than doubled.

University leaders attribute the increase to several factors: the weak economy prompting more families to consider CSU as a less expensive alternative to the University of California; news that Cal State schools will be cutting the number of students they admit; and a publicity push by CSU officials to tell students they need to get their applications in soon.

"We have put the word out to all the high schools and community colleges," CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said Tuesday.

"The communication has gotten out there and stirred students and parents to get their applications in."

Cal State is cutting enrollment statewide by 40,000 students over the next three years because of cuts to the university's budget, Reed said. The university cut enrollment by about 4,000 students this fall and expects to reduce it by another 6,000 students this spring.

"Denying students access to the CSU is just about the worst thing that I think I can do. It's during a recession, it's during a downturn," he said. "But ... we cannot educate more students with $564 million less."

With fewer spots available, some campuses will become more selective about whom they admit by upping the minimum grade-point average or giving preference to local students. And for the first time, about half the 23 Cal State campuses will not accept students who apply after Nov. 30, said university spokeswoman Claudia Keith.

Traditionally, Nov. 30 has been a soft deadline to apply to Cal State colleges -- many campuses continued accepting students for months after that date.

But with so many applications coming in and fewer spots open for new students, the Nov. 30 deadline will mean much more this year because students who apply by then will get preference.

(E-mail Laurel Rosenhall lrosenhall(at)sacbee.com)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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