CSU no sure thing for applicants anymore - John Wilkens, UNION-TRIBUNE

A $564 million drop in state funding has led to cuts in enrollment just as student demand is soaring. More people, in other words, are fighting for fewer slots. “The CSU mission is to admit the top one-third of high school graduates,” said Ethan Singer, associate vice president for academic affairs at San Diego State. “With the current budget circumstances, that mission is on life support.” The numbers at SDSU tell the story. The campus, which has 33,790 students, trimmed its enrollment by 1,850 this year and will cut 2,750 more in 2010. That means the 61,632 would-be Aztecs who applied for next fall will be competing for just 5,991 spots. For students willing to stay close to home, the silver lining is a decade-old Cal State policy guaranteeing admission to qualified applicants of each university’s service area.