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The California State University

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The individual California State Colleges were brought together as a system by the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960. In 1972 the system became The California State University and Colleges and in 1982 the system became The California State University.

The oldest campus - San Jose State University - was founded as a Normal School in 1857 and became the first institution of public higher education in California. California State University, Monterey Bay, became the CSU's 21st campus in September 1994. The California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, founded in 1929, joined the CSU as its 22nd campus in July 1995. The CSU's 23rd campus - California State University, Channel Islands - is in the planning stage to serve students in the Ventura County region.

Responsibility for The California State University is vested in the Board of Trustees, consisting of ex officio members, alumni and faculty representatives, and members appointed by the Governor. The Trustees appoint the Chancellor, who is the chief executive officer of the system, and the Presidents, who are the chief executive officers of the respective campuses.

The Trustees, the Chancellor, and the Presidents develop systemwide policy, with actual implementation at the campus level taking place through broadly based consultative procedures. The Academic Senate of The California State University, made up of elected representatives of the faculty from each campus, recommends academic policy to the Board of Trustees through the Chancellor.

Academic excellence has been achieved by The California State University through a distinguished faculty, whose primary responsibility is superior teaching. While each campus in the system has its own unique geographic and curricular character, all campuses, as multipurpose institutions, offer undergraduate and graduate instruction for professional and occupational goals as well as broad liberal education. All of the campuses require for graduation a basic program of general education requirements, regardless of the type of bachelor's degree or major field selected by the student.

The CSU offers more than 1,500 bachelor's and master's degree programs in some 200 subject areas. Many of these programs are offered so that students can complete all upper division and graduate requirements by part-time, late afternoon and evening study, or by distance learning from home or work via computer or television. In addition, a variety of teaching and school service credential programs are available. A limited number of doctoral degrees are offered jointly with the University of California and with private institutions in California.

In fall 1996, the system enrolled approximately 336,000 students, taught by more than 17,000 faculty. Last year the system awarded over 50 percent of the bachelor's degrees and 30 percent of the master's degrees granted in California. More than 1.2 million persons have been graduated from the 22 campuses since 1960.

The 23 campuses and the Chancellor's Office of The California State University are financed primarily through funding provided by the taxpayers of California. The total State appropriation to the CSU for 1997/98 (including capital outlay funding in the amount of $153,000,000) is $2,037,557,000. However, the total cost of education for CSU, is $2,631,016,000 which must provide support for a projected 258,000 full-time equivalent students (FTES). The number of full-time equivalent students is determined by dividing the total academic student load by 15 units per term (the figure used here to define a full-time student's academic load).

The total cost of education in the CSU is defined as the expenditures for current operations, including payments made to students in the form of financial aid and all fully reimbursed programs contained in state appropriations, but excluding capital outlay appropriations and lottery funds. The average cost of education is determined by dividing the total cost by the total FTES. The average cost is further differentiated into three categories: State Support (the State appropriation, excluding capital outlay), Student Fee Support, and Support from Other Sources (including Federal Funds).

Thus, excluding costs which relate to capital outlay, the average cost of education per FTE student is $10,198. Of this amount, the average student fee support per FTE is $2,263. (The State University Fee, application fee, and nonresident tuition are included in the average costs paid by the students; individual students may pay less or more than $2,263, depending on whether they are part-time, full-time, resident, or nonresident students.)

*Includes a supplemental appropriation of $2.5 million for the Economic Improvement Initiative; does not include a $5.1 million retirement reduction due to rate decreases during 1997/98; does not include $6.5 million reappropriated for lease bond payments

** Based on final campus budget sub missions subsequent to the passage of the Budget Act. Totals may differ slightly from other CSU published amounts.

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