When it comes time to apply for college, students across the country seem to agree –– The Beach is the place to be.
Cal State Long Beach received more than 83,000 applications for fall 2014, a new record from the previous high of 81,477 in fall 2013.
“This is a record for us, again,” said Tom Enders, CSULB’s associate vice president of enrollment services. “We were No. 1 in the [Cal State University system] for freshmen and transfer applications.”
Enders said that of all the applications received, 26,000 were from transfer students, and the remainder came from incoming freshmen.
In addition to being No. 1 in the CSU system, CSULB is ranked top five in the nation for number of applications received, according to David Dowell, interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.
Dowell said that the Long Beach Promise program may have contributed to the increase in applicants, as the program guarantees qualified students from Long Beach Unified School District admission to CSULB. He said, however, that most applicants came from outside the Long Beach area.
“[This is] a very popular campus with a strong reputation for being student centered,” Dowell said. “We re-engineered our admissions system last year in preparation so we are ready.”
Enders said he believes that the university’s reputation helped drive application numbers up.
“There’s good word on the street about [CSULB],” Enders said. “A lot of it is image and word of mouth. For a number of years, the numbers have consistently gone [up] as we have become a very in-demand campus.”
However, not every factor is a direct result of CSULB’s programs, he said.
“In the [Los Angeles] area, there are a lot of high school graduates and students going to community colleges,” he said. “Los Angeles campuses are seeing a growth in demand for college admissions.”
Enders said they have not yet decided the exact number of students they will admit.
“We’re expecting to enroll about the same number of freshmen as last fall and a slight increase in transfers, but it’s a little early for the decision making,” Enders said. “The bad side is, that means we have to say more no’s. It’s a balancing act.”
The large number of applications and limited space has pushed competition for undergraduate admission to an all-time high, Dowell said.
In response to the rise in applicants, he said, grade point average requirements have also been raised for the fall 2014 class.
Dowell said that the College of Health and Human Services is the most competitive college, followed by the College of Liberal Arts. He also said psychology and art are the two largest and most impacted majors.
In 2013, U.S. News and World Report ranked CSULB the fourth best public regional university in the western United States.
