A number of students who meet only the minimum California State University system admissions requirements will still be able attend some of its campuses next fall.
A recent article from The Associated Press reported that certain “special students” — such as athletes, musicians and engineering students — will be accepted to some CSU campuses for the fall by means of seats set aside specifically for them.
“Some flexibility is permitted when there is a need to keep a program going,” said Jim Blackburn, CSU director of enrollment management.
Blackburn also said there has “always been” a small group of students who are admitted while only meeting the CSU’s requirements.
The “new group of what some call ‘exceptions,'” Blackburn said, is different at every school. Some are following the policy for agriculture students, while others are admitting ROTC students.
With the new limits placed on enrollment at all 23 campuses, the allocation for these types of students has been “cut in half,” according to Blackburn.
According to the CSU Web site, freshman applicants of any CSU must take specific high school courses, graduate from high school, earn at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA if they are a California resident, and meet a certain ACT or SAT score, depending on their GPA. Upper-division transfers are considered based on their grades and previous coursework. Impacted schools and programs have their greater standards.
At Cal State Long Beach, special admissions take up a “small percentage” of the total enrollment, according to Tom Enders, associate vice president of Enrollment Services.
“Unlike many of the CSU campuses, CSULB has received many more applications than we can accommodate for some years,” Enders said via e-mail. “As a result, we have had ‘competitive’ admission approaches in place. We have always understood that our campus programs have diverse needs, so we have had a few programs that are allowed to nominate students for admission to compliment the competitive process.”
Such programs include the Stephen Benson program for disabled students and an alternate admission program for disadvantaged freshman applicants, Enders said, adding that applicants for departments such as music and dance must demonstrate talent in their areas of study. Athletes must also get the support of a special athletics committee.
Check out the Daily 49er later this week for more coverage.