January 23, 2013
On January 10, Governor Brown announced a proposed state budget for the coming year. We can be happy that the budget situation for Fall 2013 looks more stable than it has been for several years. Governor Brown confirmed $125 million to offset the 2012-13 fee refunds that campuses were required to provide after Proposition 30 passed in November. In addition, the Governor proposed an additional and unanticipated $125 million for the CSU and emphasized that improved graduation rates are expected with this additional funding. Given the Governor’s budget we are confident that we will have adequate funding for the schedule of classes for 2013-14. See the latest budget update on the Academic Affairs website.
Fall 2012 enrollment was deliberately high to offset the anticipated Spring 2013 closure to new admissions mandated by the Chancellor’s Office; this has created a drop of nearly 10% in campus FTES from Fall 2012 to Spring 2013.
We are planning a more even Fall-Spring balance for 2013-14. Fall 2013 FTES will be nearly the same as the prior Fall term but with slightly fewer new transfers and first-time freshmen (about 3,375 and 4,000 respectively). However, Spring 2014 FTES will be higher than the prior Spring, including about 1,300 additional transfers. New graduate and post-baccalaureate admissions are expected to be roughly even year-to-year. Academic year 2013-14 FTES enrollment will increase by about 2%. We expect average unit load to return to 2011-12 levels because we will be less restrictive with unit caps.
College targets and the Fall 2013 Interactive Enrollment Planning Report will be available soon.
There is a chance that the Chancellor’s Office will raise our official enrollment target because of the unexpected funding. Our current planning already has some enrollment beyond our official enrollment target and so even if the CO increases our official target, we might not have to make an adjustment.
As always, providing classes students need to graduate is central to our mission and enrollment managers are asked to make every effort to meet the needs of students. We request that colleges undertake these steps promptly:
Thank you to the schedulers, department chairs and associate deans who work so hard to ensure class availability; your efforts are very much appreciated.
