Cal State Enrollment Is Record

Enrollment at California State University campuses reached a record 388,734 students this year, in part because of a slowing state economy, the chancellor said Thursday.

The enrollment reflects an increase of more than 20,000 students, or 5.5%, for the 2001 fall semester over last year.

The system’s enrollment survey said 19 of 23 campuses reported increases. San Diego State topped the list with 34,171 students.

With the children of baby boomers reaching college age and the growing demand by high school students for a college education, the post-secondary education commission estimated an additional 130,000 students would enter the university system by 2010.

With the slowing economy sending people back to college, Chancellor Charles B. Reed said, a predicted tidal wave of new enrollments has arrived early. “The tidal wave is not simply out on the horizon,” he said. “It has already washed over our beaches.”

The news comes weeks after Reed told the system’s board of trustees that Gov. Gray Davis’ projection of up to a $14-billion state budget deficit meant the Cal State system would have to cut its budget and should begin planning for it. .

“During the coming months, we will be working with the CSU presidents to set enrollment targets that both provide access for eligible students and take into account budgetary restraints,” he said.

The chancellor has given permission to several of the system’s hardest hit campuses to set enrollment guidelines, including giving priority to those who live in the area.

For more than four years, trustees have tried to prepare for the latest influx of students, called “Tidal Wave II.”

The Cal State system tightened its enrollment requirements for high school students and aligned its entrance requirements with the University of California.