A new proposal could change Cal State Long Beach admissions guidelines and declare all academic programs impacted at both the freshman and transfer levels.
CSULB is already considered an impacted campus in the Cal State University system, along with about 16 other CSU campuses. Impaction of a major or campus occurs when the school receives more applications from fully qualified applicants than the number of spaces available.
According to the CSULB website, four other CSU campuses, San Jose, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Fullerton, have declared all their programs impacted. The website also said CSULB received more applications than any other CSU campus during the Fall 2012 application period. CSULB received 76,600 applications for undergraduate admission and can enroll anywhere from 7,000 to 8,000 undergraduate students.
“This is the campus trying to manage some very complex elements to come to its enrollment target,” Erik Fallis, a CSU spokesmans said.
Fallis said that the individual campuses can adopt changes to admission standards and enrollment targets that are based on state funding.
CSULB is considered a campus-impacted university; however, if the proposal is approved, the campus will be considered a major-impacted, or program-impacted, campus. Declaring the campus as major-impacted could require major-specific criteria for admission.
Currently, CSULB has several impacted majors that require supplemental criteria from applicants in order to be admitted at the freshman and upper division level. Some of the supplemental criteria includes higher grade point averages than the CSU 2.0 GPA minimum and additional coursework. With the new proposal, all colleges and programs within the university could determine their own supplemental criteria.
New admission criteria could have an impact on local transfer students from nearby community colleges. CSULB has an agreement with Long Beach City College, and the three Orange County colleges: Golden West, Orange Coast and Coastline. Transfer applicants from these colleges are given priority admission over students who are transferring from outside the local area.
“We expect there will be a modest reduction in local enrollments and a corresponding increase in nonlocal enrollments at both the freshman and transfer levels,” CSULB Vice Provost David Dowell said via email. “However, this change will be modest and will maintain our commitment to local access for students who have a good chance of degree completion.”
Proposed changes to admissions criteria will be discussed during the three public hearings scheduled. According to Dowell, representatives of many community colleges and local school districts have been invited to the public hearings.
Coast Colleges Board of Trustees President, Jim Moreno, is concerned about the CSULB proposed admission guideline changes and is hosting one of the public hearings in Costa Mesa.
“It raised my concern to the point where I thought we had to invite the university to the campus and have this presentation,” Moreno said.
Moreno hopes the discussion will provide more information to students who are planning on transferring and help them make more informed decisions.
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