Cal States Face Enrollment Freezes in Spring 2013

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Hannah Newmark has been enrolled at Santa Barbara Community College for two years. She has had her heart set on transferring to Cal State Long Beach for their nursing program.

“I’ve wanted to be a nurse for two years now,” Newmark said. “My mom is a nurse practitioner and it seemed like a really good fit for me to be around people and be in the medical field.”

But Hannah’s plans may be put on hold as the Cal State system will freeze all enrollment for the Spring of 2013 and potentially waitlist all applicants the following fall. The state has cut funding to the Cal State system by $750 million in the last 18 months. They face the possibility of another $200 million if another proposed tax initiative fails on the November ballot.

“I’m having to consider out of state schools now because of everything that’s been going on,” Newmark said. “It’s so frustrating. I have pulled all of my hair out over this.”

Cal State LA is one of the eight colleges that will accept a few hundred-transfer students from community colleges. The rest will not accept any other students.

CSU Media Relations Manager Erik Fallis says he expects students to be upset over the drastic measure of freezing enrollment.

“Any of the issues we have with enrollment are all directly tied to the pullout of state support,” Fallis said. “If we think about it, in the last 18 months, the CSU has lost nearly a billion dollars.”

While this change will be devastating for thousands of students, the news wasn’t unexpected for Miles Nevin. He is a graduate student at Cal State Long Beach and a member of the California State Student Association member.

“This is one we’ve seen coming,” Nevin said. “We’re not surprised because we know that the CSU system has very few tools left in its tool kit to manage what is really a disaster that we’re experiencing in California.”

The CSSA has been doing everything to get people engaged in lobbying and advocacy to put pressure on the state to stop funding cuts. Nevin says it is uncertain how long these freezes will continue.

“This is all dependent on what the state budget looks like and more specifically on whether or not the tax initiative is successful,” Nevin said. “We just don’t know and where going to have to wait to see what happens with that.”

For Hannah and many other students, not many options are left. But, CSU Media Relations Manager Erik Fallis says impacted students should continue taking as many classes as they can at community colleges.

For now, the majority of CSU’s will close down enrollment for the spring of 2013 with uncertainty for the future. All is depending on the outcome of the proposed tax initiative on the November Ballot.