In wake of massive cuts to state funding, the California State University Chancellor’s office announced March 20 it would drastically reduce spring enrollment by limiting admission to only community college students who have completed a specific transfer degree.

Only eight of 23 CSU campuses—Channel Islands, Chico, East Bay, Fullerton, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Bernardino and Sonoma—will accept students who have completed the new SB 1440 associate degree for transfer.

The SB 1440 degree is offered at community colleges as a direct pathway to completing a CSU major and obtaining a bachelor degree. It gives students guaranteed CSU admission if the degree’s criteria is completed. Although there are limitations, it is the only option students have for spring 2013.

Currently, Santa Rosa Junior College has three approved degrees for transfer: communication, psychology and sociology. Nicole Corcoran, SRJC’s Transfer Center Director, said the college is looking to offer more degrees for transfer and those are either in the works or are awaiting approval by the Chancellor’s office.

SRJC student Annamaria Marcias said she was planning to apply to San Francisco State for spring but because of the new limitations she might be forced to delay transferring until fall 2013.
“I was a couple general education classes short to apply last fall, so I just planned to apply for spring,” Marcias said. “Now I’m not sure what to do. I’m a business major so these degrees for transfer don’t work for me.”

For students like Marcias, Corcoran had several suggestions to keep on track with transfer. She urged students to work with a counselor to make sure everything is ready to go. She also suggested the option of concurrent enrollment with Sonoma State. That way students can possibly take an upper division class and not feel derailed in their transfer plans. But for students who have absolutely everything done and now cannot transfer, Corcoran said there are limited options.

“Unfortunately there is a set of students who truly are ready to go and have done everything they could possibly do,” Corcoran said. “They are just going to have to sit out a semester or come to the JC and take one or two classes for personal interest, either in their major or to keep their mind fresh as a student.”

The reduction in spring enrollment is only the initial effort the CSU system will be forced to make to compensate for the $750 million in cuts. A potential wait list situation for all eligible students in Fall 2013 will be implemented pending on the outcome of Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative.

If the initiative fails, the CSUs will face another $200 million cut and must reduce enrollment by upwards of 25,000 students.