California State University (CSU)
The California State University system has 23 campuses. This page is designed to give you as much relevant information as possible.
From Humboldt in the north to San Diego in the south- these are public schools, and CA students pay in-state tuition.
Seniors can create an account on October 1. The application can be submitted from October 1- November 30th.
If a student and their family have experienced a significant change in income they may qualify for an application fee waiver appeal. Fee waiver appeals are handled by the individual CSU campuses. The student would need to contact each campus(es) they are interested in applying. Contact information for campuses can be found at: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/Pages/contact-a-campus.aspx.
What is EOP?
The Educational Opportunity Program designs, administers, and supports programs that deliver access and retention services to historically low income and educationally disadvantaged students. An EOP student has the potential to perform satisfactorily in the CSU but has not been able to realize this potential because of economic or educational background. The program provides admission, transitional, academic, and financial assistance to EOP-eligible undergraduate students. Read more HERE.
Entering middle school courses to count for a-g
Middle school courses are entered in the “High School Coursework” section under “Add a High School Course.”
The Grade Level should be set to the middle school grade level the applicant completed the course, 7th Grade or 8th Grade.
The High School selected for middle school courses should be the school they attended in 9th Grade.
The Academic Year selected for middle school courses should be the academic year they attended 9th grade.
Step by step instructions are available on Page 23 of the Freshman Guide (link above).
Completing the a-g matching section
If the a-g tab is not checking off with a green check mark, this means that the applicant has not verified their completion of a-g.
The applicant should go to the A-G Matching tile and compare the number of years they are receiving credit for to the number of years minimum for each subject area. Once they have identified the discrepancy, they can click the Update A-G button at the bottom of this screen to be taken back to the coursework entry page for correction.
Keep in mind that if a student has input college coursework, they must manually assign it an a-g subject by going to the A-G Matching tile and writing in the letter of the corresponding a-g subject for that course.
Step by step instructions are available on Page 31-33 of the Freshman Guide (link above).
Course validation
Course validation may allow the applicant to meet a-g requirements by granting credit for lower-level courses they may not have passed, if they fall within outlined validation rules. Course validation happens automatically for California high schools that have the UC a-g course list, but must ensure they enter the correct high school with matching CEEB code and enter courses exactly as they appear on the schools A-G Course List.
Courses must be entered and validated manually for California high schools without a UC a-g course list, and for non-California high schools. Pages 34-41 of the Cal State Apply Freshman Guide 2021-2022 specific steps and screenshots to assist applicants in manually validating their coursework. If an applicant is noticing incorrect a-g calculation and has manually entered coursework, they should check the guide and double check they have correctly entered and validated their coursework. Extra years for a-g can appear due to a lower-level course not being entered correctly, such as a course from an out of state school.
Adding or removing programs
If applicants are not finding their desired program, they should:
Double check they are searching for the appropriate campus. Bakersfield is the first to appear on the list by campus name. If a campus is searching for another campus other than, or in addition to, Bakersfield then they should use the search/filter features by campus name.
Go back and review their Extended Profile information. The responses on the Extended Profile will display/hide programs accordingly. It is important the applicant complete the Extended Profile questions correctly to identify themselves as either a Freshman Applicant or a Freshman Applicant with College Coursework, as applicant, and additionally answer the military status, returning and international applicant questions correctly.
Step by step instructions are available on Page 10-12 of the Freshman Guide (link above).
Application Fee Waiver Appeals
If student and their family has had a significant change in income they may qualify for an application fee waiver appeal. Fee waiver appeals are handled by the individual CSU campuses. The student would need to contact each campus(es) they are interested in applying. Contact information for campuses can be found at: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/Pages/contact-a-campus.aspx