Thousands of students who were eligible for admission to the California State University system but rejected by one of its most selective campuses will be offered this spring a guaranteed transfer through community colleges.

The transfer option will allow 3,800 applicants to enroll in one of CSU's less crowded campuses after attending a community college for two years and getting academic advising from CSU counselors.

The option was proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cost-saving measure to try to funnel students from Cal State campuses to the less expensive community colleges. It costs the state more money to educate CSU students than community college students.

CSU officials, though disappointed that they are unable to accept all qualified students this year, said they are excited about the option.

"We think it's a good program," said Allison Jones, CSU's assistant vice chancellor of academic affairs. "These students are going to receive very personalized academic advising."

Letters informing students of the option will be sent this month. Participating students need to sign an agreement with a CSU campus before classes start at their community college this fall.

The offer is available to any student who meets CSU admission qualifications yet was rejected from its eight selective campuses. Those campuses are: San Diego State University, Cal State San Marcos, CSU Chico, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Sonoma State University.

Those students may have been able to attend one of several CSU campuses that still had capacity, but chose not to. The CSU system includes 23 campuses and has about 409,000 students.

As an incentive to get students to accept the offer, Schwarzenegger has proposed that students choosing the option do not pay fees while at the community colleges.

The University of California this spring provided a similar option. For the first time in 43 years, UC announced that it won't be able to accept all eligible students – who previously were guaranteed admission to at least one UC campus. Those students will be deferred to a community college for two years, and then can transfer.