CSU Bakersfield University Opens Spring Enrollment

California State University, Bakersfield will open enrollment for the spring quarter, university officials announced today. The university had previously announced that it would have to close enrollment for the spring quarter due to the state’s budget crisis, but thanks to careful management of limited resources and other strategies, that action has been rescinded.

“We are delighted to be able to open enrollment for spring quarter,” CSUB Provost James George said. “We have been looking extremely closely at every last slot. Because of our decision to limit students’ course-load to 17 units we have been able to maximize our enrollment and provide classes for as many people as possible.

“We are committed to serving the maximum number of students that we possibly can in our region, and have adopted strategies to do that. Students should have no reluctance to enrolling,” George said.

Edwin Sasaki, CSUB’s interim dean of undergraduate studies, said the university’s strategies have focused on providing as many opportunities to students as possible. “We haven’t hired as many adjunct instructors this fall, but have increased the number of students in our other classes,” he said. “We have made adjustments in professors’ course assignments. We have also cancelled some classes with low enrollment.” He said low enrollment was defined as classes with fewer than 10 students.

Sasaki said CSUB would continue the 17-unit course-load cap, but noted, “We will make exceptions for students who will be able to graduate in the current quarter with a greater load.”

Terry Dunn, CSUB’s director of institutional research, said that despite the economic uncertainty and the enrollment management challenges that the university is coping with, fall enrollment set another record. Nearly 200 more students are attending CSUB this fall, 7,930, compared to fall 2002 when a then-record 7,741 were enrolled. The full-time equivalent enrollment is 6,726, also a record.

“The number of undergraduates grew at the same pace as the previous few years,” Dunn said. “So if you’re wondering if the increased fees have affected our enrollment, the answer is not at all.”

George encouraged those interested in attending CSUB to call CSUB’s Office of Admissions and Records at (661) 664-3036, or for those outside the local calling area, (800) 788-CSUB (2782), and ask for extension 3036.

CONTACT: Mike Stepanovich, 661/664-2456, mstepanovich@csub.edu