CSU System Sees Record Gains in Students Enrolling for Second Year in a Row

The Cal State system is seeing record enrollment gains — although it’s still short of its all-time high in 2020.

For the second year in a row, more first-time, first-year students than ever are enrolling in the California State University system. Cal State also reported a 7% increase in enrollment among transfer students, a 2% increase among graduate students, and a 1% increase among continuing undergraduate students.

Early data is showing that enrollment has increased by 2% across its 23 universities, up to more than 461,000 students.

That data holds for campuses in San Diego County. “For the second year, in a row, Cal State San Marcos has increased its enrollment to a record high,” said Jerry McCormick, spokesperson for California State University, San Marcos.

“In Fall 2024, our enrollment is nearly 17,000 which is a 6% increase. We are proud to open doors to higher education and create pathways for social mobility that transform the lives of students, their families and their communities.”

San Diego State University also saw yearly increases in enrollment.

“The university’s confirmed student enrollment for fall 2024 is 39,373, a new university enrollment record,” the university said in an emailed statement.

“This follows several years of increased, record enrollment at SDSU. Last year, in fall 2023, SDSU had 37,539 students enrolled, which at the time, was a university enrollment record.

“Similarly, the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year marks a new enrollment record for SDSU Imperial Valley, with an estimated 1,232 students enrolled, according to the 2024 student census data.”

Preliminary figures show that 54% of CSU’s first-year students are Latino and that 4% of first-year students are Black. CSU did not break out data on Native American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander student enrollment, nor was campus-level enrollment reported. The university system expects to release final systemwide numbers in November.

In a news release, Chancellor Mildred García said the system is pursuing a “multi-year, holistic enrollment growth strategy” and is focused on recruiting and retaining students, including community college transfers.

“This promising upward momentum demonstrates the confidence that Californians have in the extraordinary power of a CSU degree to transform lives, particularly for America’s new majority, comprised of first-generation students, students of color, low-income students and adults seeking new opportunities,” García said.

FAFSA fallout?

Increased enrollment at Cal State will be welcome news to observers who had feared that the rocky rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid application might depress enrollment.

Changes to the application that debuted last year were designed make the process faster and more efficient for families. But delays and glitches plagued the new form, a critical step students must complete to find out whether they’re eligible for federal aid such as Pell Grants, loans, and work-study programs.

The troubled FAFSA cycle sparked worries that students who were uncertain about their financial aid packages would put off enrolling in college this school year. Previous research has found that receiving grant aid boosts students’ persistence and degree completion.

Financial aid officers and advocates also voiced concern about how the new application was affecting California students from mixed-status families. Many of those students — those with at least one parent without a Social Security number — had trouble submitting the FAFSA form.

The delays prompted both Cal State and the University of California to extend their spring deadlines for new students to declare their intent to register for fall 2024 classes, a recognition that many families would need more time to better understand how much their education would cost.

California ultimately fared better than most other states in terms of FAFSA completions, according to data from the National College Attainment Network. The state notched a 56% FAFSA completion rate, exceeding a rate of roughly 52% among high school seniors nationwide. That’s despite a 7% year-over-year decline in the number of FAFSA completions in California.

Cal State credited financial aid staff at its universities with helping students to work through a frustrating FAFSA cycle and processing provisional financial aid offers quickly. (The news release cited a rise in federal Pell Grants at CSU, but did not say how much awards increased.)

Difficulties with the FAFSA rollout might also have been offset by California’s universal FAFSA completion policy, which was passed in 2021. Assembly Bill 132 tasks school districts with ensuring that graduating seniors complete the FAFSA or the California Dream Act Application, but gives students the ability to opt out of doing so. A recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California found that applications from high school seniors ahead of UC and CSU’s March 2 deadline climbed 16% in the policy’s first year.

Denise Luna, the director of higher education policy at research and advocacy nonprofit EdTrust-West, said in a written statement that Cal State’s preliminary numbers indicate that giving prospective students more time to consider the costs of a CSU education was not just the right thing to do, but also “the strategic thing to do.”

“This year’s applicants need the same flexibility,” she wrote. “Since financial aid application timelines are delayed again, we will be looking to the CSU to plan to once again extend their intent-to-register deadline in 2025.”

Post-pandemic prognosis

CSU’s preliminary fall headcount is also a step toward reversing pandemic-era enrollment declines.

Enrollment across the CSU system fell 1.7% in fall 2021, part of a nationwide drop during COVID-19. Seventeen of the system’s 23 campuses saw a year-over-year enrollment slump.

Cal State campuses reacted with strategies designed to entice students back, including programs to re-enroll students who stopped attending college with incentives like waived fees and priority registration.

But CSU enrollment continued to slide in fall 2022, a consequence of record-low enrollment at the state’s community colleges, which meant fewer transfer students entering Cal State.

Demographic trends in the state’s K-12 system may also affect CSU’s student body going forward. In the 2022-23 school year, K-12 public school enrollment fell for the sixth consecutive year. The California Department of Finance projects a drop of more than 660,000 public K-12 students over the next decade if current fertility and migration trends continue.

Still, CSU sees this fall’s numbers as a good omen. Preliminary fall 2024 enrollment, though 5% below the 2020 peak, “signals additional growth in the coming years,” a system announcement said.

EdSource contributed to this report.