Cal State Northridge's student population swelled to more than 40,000 in fall. That's up from 35,198 in fall 2009.

The campus opened in 1958 and enrolled 2,525 students that September. The price of admission was $29 per semester, or $237.56 in today's dollars. That's a far cry from the $3,272 students pay to attend full-time today.

At least administrators are trying to give the kids some bang for their buck. The school this week announced that it's going to try to reduce the population of incoming undergrads by 300 students a year for the next four years.

That would represent a measly 1 percent reduction, but a much needed one, administrators say.

“We're at a saturation point,” CSUN spokeswoman Carmen Chandler told us. “We are at capacity and really cannot admit many more students and still assure them that we are offering the same high-quality education that we are known for.”

The proposal to cut admissions amounts to a declaration that the campus is “impacted,” the university said in a statement. “The number of fully qualified students exceeds the number of available spaces,” CSUN says.

The psychology, kinesiology, music, and cinema and television arts majors will also become impacted and limited programs under this week's proposal.



As part of the plan, CSUN would only allow transfer students from 17 regional community colleges. Those from other two-year institutions would face higher GPA standards—if space permits, the school said.

Would-be freshmen from the Los Angeles Unified School District’s East Educational Service Center, which serves downtown and East Los Angeles, as well as those from the South Pasadena Unified School District, the Alhambra Unified School District, and from Ventura County, would be eliminated from CSUN's preferred “local admissions area” because there are closer Cal State campuses for them.

The mission of the California State University system is to “encourage and provide access to an excellent education to all who are prepared for and wish to participate in collegiate study.”

If you disagree with CSUN's plan, you can weigh in. Public hearings begin March 5. Info.

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