Cal State Long Beach is second largest university in state

By Samantha Kercheval
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer

Today, the Beach is the largest university in the Cal State University system and the second largest university in California, with UCLA taking the top spot. However, Cal State Long Beach was not always so huge. In fact, the university comes from very humble beginnings.

In 1949 student enrollment totaled 160. By1950 almost 1,000 students were registered. The number of students attending CSULB steadily increased each year, and by 1960 the total surpassed 10,000 students.

According to the statistical data compiled by William Lee, assistant director of institutional research and data processing, 26,309 students were enrolled on campus in 1968. By 1988, fall enrollment reached a record high of 35,360 students. In 2000 enrollment dropped to 30,918 students. By 2002, enrollment rose again and reached a total of 34,566. As of fall 2003, about 35,000 students were registered.

Student enrollment is not the only thing to change over the years. Registration fees, tuition and out-of-state fees have also grown.

In the past, higher education in California was free. In the early 1950s registration fees were virtually non-existent, but out-of-state students had to pay $180 per year. In 1969, when the state of California experienced a budget deficit, funding decreased for both the UC and CSU programs. At the time, Gov. Ronald Reagan proposed the implementation of a yearly tuition, but it was mostly unsupported by the universities and instead the schools added a registration fee.

In the first few decades of the school, students only paid tuition for the summer session. According to a Daily Forty-Niner article from 1967, the school was not funded by the state for the summer sessions so students had to pay a fee of $19.75 per unit.

Over the years, the Cal State system had to fight to keep higher education free to students. CSU officials believed that implementing tuition would limit the access of the university to students and enrollment would drop. In 1979, the board of trustees faced Proposition 13 budget cuts, but they still refused to add the $100 tuition for full-time students.

Over the years, the Daily Forty-Niner has covered important tuition issues ranging from out-of-state fees in 1955 to the fight to keep college free in the late 1970s.

Several decades ago the newspaper became the Daily Forty-Niner, covering important issues for students from the steady increase of out-of-state fees to the recent tuition hike this past summer.

Today, students pay about $2,658 to attend CSULB. These fees cover the provision of health facilities and services, and other campus fees, as well as the State University Fee (SUF). The SUF is the bulk of the tuition, costing a little over $1,300 to register for six units or less and $2,334 for 6.1 units or more. Registration fees have also increased compared to the past. Undergraduates registered for six units or less now pay $752. The fee jumps to $1,181 for 6.1 or more units. Out-of-state registration has also increased since the 1960s. Out-of-state students pay an additional $282 per unit.

Between the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 school years, tuition once again increased. The increase raised undergraduate tuition by 10 percent, graduate tuition by 40 percent and out-of-state tuition by 20 percent.

Despite the implementation of tuition, student enrollment has steadily increased over the years.