More than 400 students hoping to begin their degree programs at Cal Poly Pomona in the 2003-04 academic year will have to find somewhere else to learn.

The university is not accepting any more students for its fall, winter and spring quarters in response to cuts to the Cal State University system in the state budget.

In a Friday e-mail to the campus community, Thomas Morales, vice president of student affairs, announced a reduction of 410 full-time students for the academic year, a number that will apply only to new admissions.

"To the student that's already enrolled it won't make a difference,' said Ron Fremont, Cal Poly's associate vice president for university relations. "For those who thought they were going to apply at a later date, we're closing off enrollment. We're assuming that they have to wait.'

The move came in reaction to a Friday memorandum from California State University Chancellor Charles Reed directing all campuses to make reductions in the full-time student targets for the school year.

Cal Poly's decrease from 18,220 to 17,810 represents a loss of 2 percent of the original target student body at the school. The actual number of students may vary from the projected target based on figures for students taking 12 units, Fremont said.

"The chancellor and president believe that we have reached a point where we can no longer continue to do more with less. The budget reductions that have been approved will cause us to teach more students this year with less than adequate funding,' Morales wrote in the e- mail.

The Cal State system has been hit hard by the budget approved Saturday by Gov. Gray Davis, with a $15 million, or 13 percent, reduction in its budget.

Cal Poly also will begin open enrollment for the 2004-05 academic year Oct. 1, enabling students taking classes but not in any degree programs to attend next summer and allowing students to begin pursuing their degree programs in fall 2004, Fremont said.

Prospective students trying to file applications for spring 2004 before that quarter's Aug. 30 deadline will receive a letter in the mail explaining the matter and their options for later enrollment.

It seemed only a matter of time before the cut made its way to the student level.

"I'm lucky. I'm just kind of happy that I got in there when everybody else didn't,' said 18- year-old Arcadia resident Tracy Leong, who will start school on the first day of classes Sept. 25. "If you know you're going to go to the school, apply early.'

Fremont had small consolation for less-fortunate students who will have to wait.

"Even during good budget years, when a student applies they don't know if they're going to be admitted,' he said.