In April of each year the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) releases the official credential data for the previous academic year. The 2002-2003 credential counts indicated that the California State University continued to lead the state in recommending new teachers for their first credential. According to the CCTC data, the CSU recommended 12,798 first-time/new type basic credentials in California, 59 percent of the total completed in the state (21,649). This represents an increase of 28 percent over the number of credentials produced by the CSU in 2000-2001, and an impressive 46 percent since 1998-1999, as shown in the figure below. While the supply of credentialed teachers in California decreased by 8 percent from 2001-2002 to 2002-2003, the CSU increased its production of teachers by 4 percent.

The CSU is also the definitive leader in alternative certification programs in California. The number of internship credentials is reported out separately by CCTC from first-time/new type issuance totals. For 2002-2003, the CSU produced 4,207 (73 percent) of the total 5,779 internship credentials in single subject, multiple subject, and special education. This represents an increase of 32 percent over the number of internship credentials in 2001-2002 and an increase of 117 percent since 1998-1999.