Quake-Damaged CSUN Suffers Largest Drop Ever in Applicants : Enrollment: Officials say applications are down 25%. Administrators are scrambling to boost recruitment.

Applications from new students seeking to attend Cal State Northridge in the fall are down 25% from a year ago--the largest decline ever, and a sign that last year’s earthquake continues to haunt the campus.

CSUN officials as of last week had received only 8,840 applications for the fall, compared to 11,884 last year just before the Jan. 17 Northridge quake.

“There’s never been a difference as large as this one,” said Lorraine Newlon, CSUN’s director of admissions and records.

Officials had expected an enrollment decline, but the early and dramatic drop in applications has left administrators scrambling to boost recruitment.

On Monday, the first day of the spring semester, enrollment plummeted 8.4% from a year ago to 22,457 students. It was the lowest spring figure since 1971, when the campus was still San Fernando Valley State College.

“I think we are realistic. We fully understand this is a consequence of the earthquake and tuition increases” and other factors, said Bruce Erickson, CSUN’s director of public relations. “We are not going to be able to artificially reverse those fundamental forces,” he said.

In a bid to blunt the impact, new promotional materials are being prepared. The campus recently sent a memo to high school and community college counselors debunking supposed “myths” about the campus.

CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson, in a recent interview, said many residents in surrounding communities have an exaggerated and inaccurate sense of campus problems. The memo assures potential students that they can get classes they need, obtain on-campus housing, find parking and other essentials.

After a history of regular enrollment increases, the number of students peaked at 31,531 in 1988, before tuition hikes and the recession.

Enrollment fell from 30,441 in fall of 1991 to 27,282 in fall of 1993, the semester before the earthquake. Since then, CSUN has lost about 4,825 students for a 17.7% decline, far greater than that experienced by other Cal State schools.

The exact impact of further enrollment declines remains uncertain. To date, CSUN officials said the Cal State system has not penalized campus funding despite the post-earthquake enrollment losses, but it is not clear how long that policy will continue.

The decline in applications for the fall has been broad based, affecting all three major categories of students, Newlon said. Applications from first-time freshmen are down 29.7%, from 6,961 a year ago to 4,893 this month.

Applications from community college transfer students are down 22.4%, from 4,204 a year ago to 3,263 this month. And graduate student applications are down 4.9% from 719 a year ago to 684 this month. “I certainly believe the earthquake has had a significant impact,” Newlon said.

Application rates indicate admissions levels. For example, about 30% of the freshmen who apply end up enrolling at the campus. So CSUN would need about 8,000 freshmen applications by this fall to meet its goal of 2,400 new freshmen, Newlon said.

Campus officials said they will be working to attract more applications by courting high schools and community colleges. And they will be tending to those who have already applied, trying to persuade a higher share than normal to actually pick the campus.