San Jose State University is once again shrinking the size of its freshman class — accepting all qualified students from Santa Clara County but limiting entry by nonresidents, and toughening standards for the most popular majors, such as engineering, business and nursing.
With less state money to support teaching, 2,500 fewer student slots will be available at SJSU next fall; last year, the school cut 3,000 slots. No transfers were allowed to arrive this spring.
“We’re downsizing,” said SJSU President Jon Whitmore, “so if there is a smaller group of students and a smaller group of employees, we are still providing a quality education.”
The SJSU cutbacks are part of a significant reduction within the entire California State University system. At a Tuesday news conference, CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said the system will offer 40,000 fewer seats for the 2010-11 academic year, a 7 percent cut.
Meanwhile, applications have surged. The number of applicants to SJSU is 48 percent higher than this time last year. CSU officials report a similar trend. Admissions officers aren’t sure whether this reflects increased demand; perhaps more students are applying early because they know they’ll be shut out if they miss the once-flexible Nov. 30 deadline.
“Denying access to CSU is just about the worst thing I can do, especially during a downturn,” Reed said. “But we cannot educate more students with $546 million less money.” SJSU has been given $42 million less for the academic years 2009-10 and 2010-11.
SJSU says it will handle the surge in demand by becoming more selective, raising admission standards for entry into high-demand, or “impacted,” majors. This is a more nuanced approach than last year, when any qualified California student who applied before Nov. 20 was accepted, but those who applied between Nov. 20 and 30 were accepted or wait-listed, based on where they lived. That policy triggered a barrage of angry phone calls to the SJSU admission office.
“We’re refining our practices. Rather than the blunt cut approach of last year, we are focusing on demand and capacity for specific majors,” said SJSU spokeswoman Pat Harris.
For instance:
“It makes sense to have a smaller school, so we can get the classes we need to graduate,” said SJSU student Jessica Dunham, who is studying advertising. But student Amalia Ranteria worried: “Where are the solutions?”
If students are rejected from their major, they can enter SJSU as an “undeclared” major, then reapply if their work improves. But there are no guarantees. Students set on a particular major should consider a “backup plan” by applying to less crowded CSU campuses.
The downsizing is a profound shift in strategy for the campus, which only two years ago was scrambling to attract enough students, Whitmore said.
Emily L. Allen, associate dean of SJSU’s College of Engineering, said “Our educational system has been based on access, with room for everyone. That’s coming to an end.”
“Access has to be based on academic performance,” she said. “What else is there?”
CSU contends it will strive to give some extra consideration to students from low-income families or who attended weak high schools. About 54 percent of CSU’s student body is made up of Latinos, African-Americans and other underrepresented minorities, “and we want to maintain proportionality,” said Reed.
It will not expand the portion of its student body that comes from outside California or foreign countries, even though those students pay higher tuition.
To aspiring applicants, Allen advised: “Even if you don’t know what you want to do, do the very best you can.”
Contact Lisa M. Krieger at 408-920-5565.
For more information on San Jose State University admissions, go to http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-1132.html