HAYWARD, Calif. -- While other public four-year colleges have clamped down on enrollment because of state budget cuts, California State University, Hayward still is actively recruiting students for its fall freshman class.

Cal State Hayward, which enrolled 1,396 freshmen last fall and has long been viewed as a commuter school, hopes to increase enrollment to about 1,700 by building a 420-bed freshman dorm to draw more live-in students.

The only Cal state campus in San Francisco's East Bay region, Hayward is one of only six schools among the 23 in the CSU system still accepting applications from first-time freshmen. The others are Cal State Bakersfield, Fullerton, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and the Maritime Academy in Vallejo, Calif.

California's budget crisis has forced the Cal State system to cut its systemwide fall enrollment by 23,000 students this year. Schools that in past years would have kept their enrollment periods open through the summer are now preparing to send rejection letters to thousands of qualified students.

The University of California, which also faces budget constraints, last month turned away 7,600 applicants who otherwise would have gotten a place in the fall freshman class. The students were guaranteed they could transfer to a UC campus if they attend a community college for two years.

Cal State Hayward is not immune to the state's budget problems _ 63 non-teaching staff members are being laid off _ but so far it hasn't had to restrict admissions. The school has never reached the enrollment projections envisioned when its 400-acre campus was built in 1957.

Hayward currently enrolls about 13,500 students, but has room for 16,500 students and has construction plans that would enable it to grow to 25,000 students. Parking is even available, something rare for most college campuses.