The CSU Today

In the 2020-21 final budget, the state reduced permanent base funding to the CSU by $299 million, and the state removed $315 million in one-time funding. The tables below also include the state-funded retirement adjustment of $42.7 million that will be reduced in a subsequent General Fund appropriation. The 2020-21 current year total CSU operating budget of $6.9 billion is composed of $3.7 billion in state General Fund and $3.2 billion in tuition and fees. New resources to fulfill the CSU’s budget request for 2021-22 are $556 million, as shown in Table 1.​

The operating budget is focused on fulfilling CSU’s core mission: to serve students with a high-quality, affordable and accessible education. As shown in Table 2, the CSU spends 73 percent, $5 billion, of its total operating budget on instruction, academic support, student services and financial aid. All of these activities promote student success, enrich the academic experience and ensure that each eventual CSU graduate is ready to professionally succeed.​

With sustained state support, the CSU continues to be one of the best investments in California. As the largest and most diverse university system in the country, the CSU is doing its part to meet the workforce needs of California while remaining one of the nation’s most affordable public four-year universities. In fact, several CSU campuses are often listed in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the nation’s top schools with the highest quality and best financial outcomes.

• Enrolled 485,549 students in fall 2020;
• Graduated 128,925 students in 2019-20, 1,525 more than 2018-19;
• Awarded 109,450 baccalaureate, 18,883 master’s and 592 doctoral degrees in 2019-20;
• Served 2,226 doctoral students in fall 2019 from diverse backgrounds, preparing them for leadership roles in education and nursing, and filling roles in critical fields such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and audiology;
• Improved graduation rates for four- to six-year first-time and transfer students by 35 percent since 2015; and
• Opened or expanded food pantries or food distribution systems on every campus and continue to build community partnerships to support student well-being, housing and food insecurity needs.

As a result of COVID-19, CSU successfully transitioned from in-person to online instruction and virtual student support.

• Bought 25,200 laptops and tablets and 12,000 Wi-Fi hot spots for staff, faculty and students who needed them to continue their work or studies from their homes;
• More than 80,000 classes were transitioned to virtual modalities; and
• More than 250,000 hours of professional development engaged by faculty and staff to ensure a robust teaching, learning and discovery experience.

The CSU also continues to maximize efficiencies and economies of scale to find cost savings and cost avoidance whenever possible. Through joint contracts, energy partnerships and sustainability efforts, the CSU is making significant strides in this area.

• Partnered with University of California, California Community Colleges and other higher education consortia agreements to reduce costs in purchasing goods and services mainly for construction projects, information technology and academic support.
• Achieved $162.6 million in cost avoidance and revenue generation in 2018-19 in a variety of areas including administrative services, information technology, construction, instructional and student services, energy, facilities operations and strategic partnerships.​