Cal State Long Beach is wait-listing applicants for the first time for
fall 2010, forcing some students to wait two more months before they
find out their admission status.
The wait-listing method is being used statewide in both the University of California and California State University systems and is the effect of the extreme budget cuts made in the last year.
Due to the record amount of applicants for the 2010-11 academic year, public universities plan to admit as many students as state funds them, but no more than that.
“We do what we can with the money we have, but if we don’t have it
then there is nothing we can do,” said Student Orientation, Advising
and Registration (SOAR) Director Ken Kelly.
The CSU’s alone have a record amount of 609,000 applicants for next fall’s admittance, causing approximately 8,000 students to be
wait-listed statewide. CSULB already has more than 3,000 students
expecting to transfer this fall, according to a CSULB Division of
Academic Affairs newsletter.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2010-2011 academic budget proposal is the determining factor in accepting wait-listed students, providing that what was proposed is actually given to the CSU and UC systems.
“This budget will help start us on the path to recovery,” said CSU
Chancellor Charles B. Reed in a prepared statement.
The budget plans to restore $305 million to the CSU system, which was a “one-time” cut in last year’s budget, along with an additional $60.6 million to expand enrollment throughout the 23 campuses, according to a CSU press release.
Funding for enrollment expansion is contingent on the amount of money the state receives in federal aid for other state programs, so the amount could change. Even if additional funding is given based on the governor’s proposal, CSULB officials will not know until June or July whether admission to wait-listed students will open or not.
“I see it as a good thing,” Kelly said. “It creates an opportunity for
students who may have in the past been rejected right away a shot at getting in.”
Kelly also noted that student wait-listing has no effect on current
CSULB students, class sizes or the SOAR program.
Word of a “stimulus” fund was released in late February, which would provide additional funding for CSULB apart from state funding. The stimulus fund would allow the university to provide an adequate
schedule of classes for the fall 2010 semester, and will also support
additional funding for incoming students if the waitlists open,
according to the CSULB academic affairs newsletter.
Despite the announcement time for the finalized CSULB budget, all CSUs and UCs plan on notifying wait-listed students beginning the first of June.
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