California State University, Northridge

October 15, 1996

Contact: Bruce Erickson or
Carmen Ramos Chandler,
(818) 677-2130
berickson@exec.csun.edu or cchandler@exec.csun.edu

CSUN Announces Early Close for Spring Admissions

CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson said the spring undergraduate admissions application period, which opened Aug. 1, was closed Monday, Oct. 14, to keep enrollments close to budgeted targets and to preserve academic quality. The closure is several months earlier than customary in recent years.

ÒWeÕre doing this because we have too many students and too little money,Ó Wilson said. ÒWeÕre trying to maintain a quality program and not go back to the time in the late 1980s when students couldnÕt get classesÓ because campus enrollments reached all-time high levels.

Under the action, undergraduate applications for the spring received or postmarked by Oct. 14 will be normally processed. Undergraduate applications received after that date automatically will be considered for fall 1997. The official fall application filing period opens Nov. 1.

The application period for graduate students seeking to enter the university in spring 1997 remains open for now, but only until CSUNÕs spring enrollment target is met. University officials also said an extra $600,000 has been authorized from the campus budget to provide additional courses in the spring.

The changes were necessary because projections showed CSUNÕs 1996-97 enrollments, left unchecked, hitting 19,200 full-time equivalent students (FTES)--nearly 3 percent over the universityÕs Cal State target of 18,680. Even with the changes, CSUNÕs FTES enrollment for the year could hit 19,000.

Wilson said the Cal State system, with enrollments up at other campuses, likewise is headed toward exceeding the enrollment levels funded in the state budget this year. Thus, Wilson said CSUN cannot expect to receive enough extra funding to accommodate all of its enrollment demand.

CSUN officials said the university has taken take similar steps in the past, but not since the late 1980s when enrollments peaked on campus. Elsewhere this year, CSUN officials added, several other Cal State campuses already have imposed similar constraints because of rising enrollments.

Members of the public with questions about CSUNÕs early close of the admissions application period for the spring and related matters can contact the universityÕs Office of Transfer Services at (818) 677-4689, or the Office of Admissions and Records at (818) 677-3773.