Applications top last year

​Applications for next academic year again reached an all-time high at Cal State Long Beach, topping more than 91,000, which was the most received by any California State University campus.

With its culturally diverse population and top business, engineering, education and international programs, CSULB also annually ranks as one of the most desirable public universities in the country. For the past two years, CSULB was the eighth-most applied to campus in the United States, according to U.S. News and World Report.

The 91,268 applications the school garnered this fall came from first-time freshmen (61,716) and transfers (29,552) and that number could push closer to 100,000 after the international students’ applications are tallied in April.

President Jane Close Conoley said CSULB has made “remarkable strides” in graduating students, noting that investing in the Cal State system is an “investment in the future.” CSULB has conferred roughly 10,000 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees the past two academic years.

In the past, more than 70 percent of students who begin CSULB as freshman have earned baccalaureate degrees, and 60 percent have done so within six years. More than 85 percent of transfer students have graduated from the Long Beach campus. Most of the applicants come from outside the Long Beach area.

CSULB has built a reputation for excellence among prospective students, who find a wide-range of degrees to choose from. The university has been ranked as one of the top schools by U.S. News and World Report (seventh-best public school) and Washington Monthly (32^nd among affordable West schools).