Horror stories of budgets cuts, fee hikes and increased competition haven’t deterred students from applying at local colleges and universities.
The University of California, Irvine, California State University, Fullerton, and Chapman University in Orange have seen an influx of students vying to attend their campuses, despite the still-challenging economy and increasing tuition fees.
“There are thousands seeking out the opportunity to attend college,” said Denise Patrick, assistant dean of undergraduate programs at the Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine. “Demand is so high that cost may be deterring some, but others are willing to take their place.”
Many public universities, including UCI and Cal State Fullerton, have spent the past two years dealing with big increases in applications even amid budget cuts and rising tuition.
The effects of the cuts have been felt most by UCI and Cal State Fullerton, which have spent the past several months operating without a state budget in place.
Cal State Fullerton officials said they remain optimistic that Sacramento will approve a final budget that will restore necessary funding to the university, with a vote on a recently crafted spending plan pending in the state legislature late last week.
The University of California system has lost $800 million in state funding overall in the last two years, forcing layoffs of an estimated 2,000 employees, a reduction in faculty pay through furloughs, and the cutting of courses and other programs and services to students.
Local universities nevertheless are moving forward with admissions for 2011 because state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have said they are committed to restoring some funding to the CSU and UC systems, although details remain incomplete.
“The first thing they need to do is pass the budget for the current year,” said Anil Puri, dean of the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics at Cal State Fullerton.
Cutbacks
Last year, Cal State Fullerton closed winter and spring admissions to most new students following an unprecedented reduction in state funding that led to enrollment cuts, employee furloughs, and steep fee increases.
Cal State Fullerton later received $106 million in one-time funding from the federal stimulus package, which it used to increase enrollment and restore cut classes.
This year, the Cal State University system is expected to admit 30,000 more students for the winter and spring 2011 terms throughout its 23 campuses.
The increase will help close a huge gap between demand and supply locally.
“We saw 62,000 applications for approximately 8,000 spots this year,” said Puri.
Part of the strong demand can be traced to the economic downturn. Over the past two years, schools have seen increases in applications for everything from undergrad to MBA programs.
“When the downturn hit, we certainly saw an uptick,” said Jon Masciana, director of admissions for the fully employed MBA program at the University of California, Irvine. “In fact, in 2008, applications had never been higher and the trend continued into 2009.”
Fee Hikes
The growing demand and ongoing budget crunch also have led universities to increase tuition fees for both local and out-of-state students.
The fees have risen by 32%, or $2,500 this year for undergraduates at UCI.
In many cases, universities have been forced to turn away students due to budget cuts.
“Many were turned away because we don’t have the capacity, the budget, instructors or physical space to accommodate these students,” Cal State’s Puri said.
Cal State Fullerton saw its number of students shrink in the past two years amid budget cuts, a reversal from steady increases before the downturn hit.
“We [had] strong demand over the last 16 years, with the campus growing on average between 2% to 4%,” Puri said. “We have actually had negative growth in the last two years.”
The university has cut the number of student on campus from 37,000 in 2008 to 35,000 this year.
“We are reversing course as far as enrollment is concerned simply because there is no budget,” Puri said. “We are limited by the number of faculty that we can hire and the classes we can offer.”
Higher Standards
Prospective students face another hurdle because standards have risen along with the number of applicants in the past two years.
“The university admissions requirements have gone up substantially, especially for Orange County students,” Puri said, citing the growing prestige of local programs and a large base of potential applicants.
The higher standards have benefited employers who hire graduates, according to UCI’s Masciana.
“Overall we have seen the quality of candidates applying definitely going up,” he said.
By far, undergraduate business degrees and MBAs remain the most sought after degrees at local universities, according to Cal State Fullerton’s Puri.
Graduate programs generally see an uptick in admissions during downturns.
“We’re actually up 17% compared to fall 2009 for all graduate programs,” said Van Muse, director of MBA and other graduate programs at the California State University, Fullerton.
Not every program has seen gains, though.
One of the few to see a decrease in applications is UCI’s program for fully employed workers seeking an MBA.
“Enrollment has tapered off,” Masciana said. “Financial corners are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, deterrents we have seen in this admission cycle.” n
