CSUN Halts Enrollment of Undergrads

Cal State Northridge announced Thursday that the school has stopped accepting new undergraduate applications for the fall semester because of “severe budget constraints.”

The decision was announced in a brief statement by CSUN President James W. Cleary, who said that as of 5 p.m. Thursday, undergraduate enrollment was closed. Currently enrolled students will not be affected and applications from prospective students already on file will be processed, said Lorraine Newlon, director of admissions and records.

Graduate students are still being accepted for the fall semester at Northridge, and CSUN’s satellite campus in Ventura is also still accepting graduate and undergraduate applications.

Total enrollment at CSUN this year is 30,440 graduate and undergraduate students, university spokeswoman Kaine Thompson said.

The school did not say how the enrollment cutoff date compared with practices during previous years.

CSUN became the fifth school in the 20-campus CSU system to stop accepting new students for next fall, joining Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco and Sonoma, according to the California State University chancellor’s office.

The CSU systemwide budget is complicated by disagreement between legislators and Gov. Pete Wilson, who has advocated a 40% hike in CSU student fees. A legislative subcommittee voted for a 10% fee increase.

Regardless of which option is chosen, the CSU system would still end up with a budget shortfall--$137 million under the Legislature’s plan and a $70-million deficit under the governor’s plan, CSU has said.

The current state university systemwide tuition for students carrying a full course load is $936 per year and would jump to $1,308 per year if the governor’s proposed increase is implemented, according to CSU statistics.