California State University Announces Direct Admissions Pilot Program
Credit: The Good Brigade / DigitalVision / Getty Images- The California State University (CSU) system is launching a new direct admissions pilot program for eligible high school students in Riverside County, California.
- Students will be offered immediate, conditional admission to 10 CSU campuses including Chico State, Cal Poly Humboldt, and San Francisco State.
- Students must be on track to meet graduation requirements to qualify for the program.
The California State University (CSU) system is partnering with a local school district to offer direct admissions to eligible high school students, the university announced Oct. 23.
The pilot program offers eligible seniors at public high schools in Riverside County, California, immediate, conditional admission to 10 CSU campuses.
The CSU campuses included in the program are:
- CSU Channel Islands
- Chico State
- CSU East Bay
- California Polytechnic University, Humboldt
- Cal Maritime Academy
- CSU Monterey Bay
- CSU San Bernardino
- San Francisco State
- CSU San Marcos
- Sonoma State
Students eligible for the program must be on track to graduate and fulfill their college preparatory courses, also known as their A-G requirements. Those who qualify will receive a brochure in the mail offering them conditional admission to the 10 CSU campuses.
They can then choose their preferred CSU campus using the CaliforniaColleges.edu platform. After receiving their official acceptance letter from the university, students must continue to meet their course requirements and graduate from high school.
Students don’t need to submit essays or letters of recommendation for acceptance to the 10 campuses participating in the pilot program. However, certain campuses and majors may have additional admissions requirements.
The pilot program does not exclude students from applying to the other 13 CSU campuses not participating in the program, although they will need to submit traditional applications for the remaining schools.
“We are excited to provide a direct pathway to higher education for thousands of high school students across Riverside County,” April Grommo, CSU assistant vice chancellor of strategic enrollment management, said in a press release.
“We want students to know that the door to college opportunity is open to them, and to help relieve some of the stress and uncertainty about applying for college.”
Grommo described Riverside County as an “excellent location” for the pilot program, noting that the county was “ethnically and economically representative of the diversity of California.”
The Southern California county includes more than 56 high schools and serves primarily Hispanic and Latino/a students.
“As one of the fastest-growing regions in California, the need for college-educated professionals will continue to soar, and this partnership will remove barriers to higher education, welcoming more college-ready students to the CSU system through this innovative direct admission program,” Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Edwin Gomez said in the release.
States Expand Direct Admissions Programs
The California State University joins several other states and university systems that offer direct admissions programs to eligible high school students.
In October, the Utah System of Higher Education announced all Utah high school students, regardless of their GPA, will be guaranteed admission to at least one of the state’s 16 public colleges or universities.
In January, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that high school students graduating in the top 10% of their class will receive direct admission to colleges within the State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) systems.
Additionally, last fall, the University of Wisconsin system launched its direct admissions program for 10 of the system’s 13 institutions, following similar efforts in Georgia and Indiana.