San Francisco State University has moved its fall 2004 application deadline up from May 1 to Jan. 16 to cope with growing enrollment and the state's fiscal crisis.

The early deadline is in response to a significant increase in applications and uncertainty over the university's budget in light of California's fiscal crisis. The goal is to prevent SFSU from admitting more students than it can adequately serve, said Jo Volkert, associate vice president for enrollment planning and management.

"We need to take steps to limit the number of admissions so that we can provide enough classes for those who are admitted and choose to enroll here."

The 23-campus California State University system suffered more than $300 million in budget cuts this academic year. Earlier this month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made another $23.7 million in mid-year cuts to the system's budget. CSU officials in turn announced they would make up that money by turning away roughly 4,000 eligible students in the spring -- bringing to nearly 19,000 the total number of eligible students it will likely turn away this academic year.

In light of this, CSU officials had strongly advised all prospective students to file their applications by Nov. 30 to be safe, even though individual campuses set their own deadlines.

This created a flurry of applications. The system saw a 48 percent increase to 343,400 in online applications between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30 compared to the same period last year.

The San Francisco campus has received more than 24,000 applications for next fall -- a nearly 29 percent increase over last year. More than 500 applications continue to arrive weekly.

Another reason for the increase: More students are graduating from high school and will continue to do so through 2008, university officials say.

Cal State Hayward announced in October it would not accept any more qualified students for the spring and summer quarters, which it estimates will affect 70 to 100 students.

In addition, it plans to move its fall application deadline up from August to June 30.

The campus has so far received 6,200 fall applications -- a 47 percent increase over last year. Some of that may be due to the unprecedented use of the CSU system's online application, which allows students to easily apply to more than one campus, said Hayward spokesman Kim Huggett. It's not clear how many students will actually enroll if admitted.

Still, Hayward officials know they can no longer accept applications up to the last minute.

"We have had to throttle back," said Huggett. "It's not something we do lightly. But we need to be responsible given the series of budget cuts we have taken."

Carrie Sturrock covers higher education. Reach her at 925-943-8155 or csturrock@cctimes.com.

HOW TO APPLY

To receive a quick admissions decision, prospective students are encouraged to apply online at www.csumentor.edu.

Online applications for San Francisco State University must be completed and submitted no later than Jan. 16, for first-time freshmen and Feb. 16 for transfer students. For more information on SFSU admissions, majors and degree programs, costs, financial aid, on-campus housing and student life, visit, www.sfsu.edu/prospect or call 415-338-2355. Online applications for Cal State Hayward must be completed by June 30. For more information about the Hayward or Contra Costa campuses go to www.csuhayward.edu.