PASADENA - With Cal State University trustees voting to limit enrollment for the first time ever, Blair IB Magnet School senior Alexus Williams is happy she submitted her applications well before Monday’s deadline.Cal State Long Beach was her first choice, followed by Northridge, Fullerton and Cal Poly Pomona. Four is her limit, she said, since after that there is a fee for applying to additional colleges.
“I’m focusing on the CSUs for economic reasons,” she said. “I’m anxious, but I’m praying and hoping.”
Most high school seniors in Pasadena apply to the CSU system, so news that enrollment is being capped is a major concern. The state’s worsening fiscal crisis and the possibility of additional cuts to education prompted CSU officials two weeks ago to declare “system- wide impaction,” which could lead to cutting enrollment by up to 10,000 students next year.
Karen Favor, a guidance counselor at Blair, said the application filing period is always stressful for seniors, and the enrollment caps only exacerbated that.
Admission will be granted based on a priority system, CSU officials said. At the top of the list are continuing undergraduate students already enrolled, followed by community college students who meet transfer requirements.
Then, CSU officials say, they will consider California residents entering at the freshman or sophomore levels, with nonresident students having the lowest priority.
In addition, according to Favor, Cal State campuses will give priority to students who live in their geographic areas. Pasadena-area schools are in the Cal State Los Angeles zone, so students who meet entrance requirements have a better chance of being accepted there.
Most importantly, the application deadline is Monday; seniors who haven’t completed applications yet are running out of time.
“I have noticed a feeling of `hurry up and get applications early,’ ” said Marshall Fundamental High School counselor Diane Innes. “Seniors are afraid they will not get accepted.
“We are encouraging them to get everything done early.”
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