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news
Tidal Wave II
rolling over CSULB
By Greg Smith
On-line Forty-Niner
The enrollment
problem facing the California State University system has
reached a new level this year as more students than ever are
applying into the system's 23 campuses, a phenomenon known
as Tidal Wave II.
The term Tidal Wave II refers to the influx of children of
the baby boomer generation. The first Tidal Wave was the baby
boomers heading to college in the 1960s and 1970s.
According to research compiled by the California Faculty Association,
enrollment into the CSU has risen 18 percent in the past five
years to a total of 380,000 students. By the end of the decade,
CFA analysts project enrollment to reach 480,000 students.
On the statewide level, CSU has begun taking measures to deal
with the flow of new students said Clara Potes-Fellow, manger
of media relations for the Chancellor's Office.
One of the measures,
Potes-Fellow said, is state-funded year round operations at
15 CSU campuses.
In addition to this is funding from Gov. Gray Davis' projected
budget. The preliminary budget includes funding to accommodate
12,030 additional students, a dollar amount of $87.8 million.
New technology called CMS is also being implemented statewide,
Potes-Fellow said. The technology, will allow students to
apply to CSU campuses online.
Cal State Long Beach has not been immune to Tidal Wave II.
According to figures from CSULB Institutional Research, the
total student population at CSULB has risen by more than 5,000
students since 1997.
CSULB has implemented new measures to combat Tidal Wave II,
said Armando Contreras, executive assistant to CSULB President
Robert Maxson.
Beginning with the fall 2002 semester CSULB will implement
a three-part program which will change admission requirements
for new freshman students.
The plan is based on a controversial system implemented at
San Diego State. Contreras said the university has designated
three areas around CSULB, each with different requirements
for enrollment.
The first area will be based around school districts in the
Long Beach area. Students applying from this area will see
no changes in requirements.
The second area will be made up of the greater Los Angeles
area. Students applying from this area will face higher academic
requirements based on a revised eligibility index that takes
into account a student's high school grade point average and
SAT scores.
The third area includes any part of California outside of
the second area. This area will have the highest academic
requirements.
Contreras said this plan is specific to freshmen because that
is where the greatest growth has been seen. According to Institutional
Research, CSULB has 4,517 new freshmen enrolled, up from 2,653
in 1997.
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