Message to the Campus Community on Enrollment Management Policy Linda Bain Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

To the Campus Community:

In a message to the campus earlier this month, President Koester noted that we would be reporting periodically on how Cal State Northridge is responding to the significant state budget reductions that have been proposed for 2004/05. Under the state budget offered by Gov. Schwarzenegger, Cal State Northridge is facing net budget cuts of nearly $20 million and a 5 percent reduction in our overall 2004/05 enrollment target from 24,392 to 23,172 full-time equivalent students (FTES).

Anticipating the campus could face these kinds of pressures, President Koester in Spring 2002 convened a campus Enrollment Policy Group to explore options for managing our future undergraduate enrollments. That group soon will submit a final report with long-term recommendations for campus review. In the meantime, based on advice from that internal group and a group of prominent community advisors, the University has adopted an enrollment management policy that will help guide our admissions decisions for Fall 2004.

This week, Cal State Northridge will mail notification letters to thousands of students who have applied to become freshmen here for 2004/05. Because of the state's budget cuts, the University has decided to reduce the size of our freshman class by 10 percent. We are planning to admit about 3,200 freshmen for Fall 2004, compared to about 3,600 freshmen in Fall 2003. Although the number of affected applicants here will be small compared to the total size of our freshman class, this change nonetheless marks the first time the University has been forced by state budget reductions not to accept all qualified freshmen applicants. This change reflects the serious challenges of the state budget.

The University's goals, in adopting this approach, are 1) to maintain a high-quality education for the more than 32,000 students who already attend classes here, by not having enrollments exceed our capacity; 2) to preserve access to public higher education for all qualified applicants in the main geographic areas we serve; and 3) to operate the University amid state budget cuts in a way that causes the least impact to our students. Based on projections, we also believe this enrollment management approach should not alter significantly the diversity of our student body.

Even with the smaller freshman class planned for Fall 2004, it is important to note that Cal State Northridge, under our policy, will offer admission to all qualified freshmen from all public and private high schools in the San Fernando Valley, which we have defined as our "primary service region." Then, using a ranking formula, we likewise expect this fall to accommodate all qualified freshmen applicants from the Antelope and Santa Clarita Valleys, and Ventura County, which also are key areas for the University. Beyond that, we expect to have some 700 spaces available for qualified applicants from other parts of Los Angeles County.

The admission priority for freshmen applicants outside the San Fernando Valley will be based on two factors: 1) whether they live in areas not served by any other CSU campus; and 2) the extent of their high schools' past relationship to CSUN, i.e., how many students those schools have enrolled here during the past three years. Freshman applicants from outlying areas not offered admission will receive a letter asking if they want to remain on a CSUN waiting list and/or consider other campuses.

Consistent with feedback we have received both on campus and from our community advisors, the University has decided not to declare impaction for the freshman class this fall. That means our academic admission standards for prospective freshmen will remain constant. High school seniors and their parents who have been preparing to meet Cal State Northridge's standards will not suddenly find the rules and expectations changed.

If budget circumstances were different, the University would not need this enrollment management policy. But we are facing a year in which Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget proposal has called for the entire CSU and UC systems to reduce their freshmen classes by 10 percent. We also have been guided by the state Master Plan for Higher Education that gives admission priority to upper division transfer students over freshmen, because the latter can still attend community colleges. In what promises to be a very difficult budget year, Cal State Northridge is seeking to manage both our enrollment and resources in a way that best serves our students and our community.

Linda Bain
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

February 2004