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Originally reported as optional, the $31 million reduction to the California State University budget will go back to the state, said Chancellor Charles Reed in a press conference Nov. 21.
"Let's not get into semantics, I deal with reality," Reed said of the reduction. "There is no such thing as a volunteer thing to do."
If the reduction and the $66 million cuts are approved by the state Legislature, the CSU system will be operating more than $300 million under budget, Reed said. Though the state Legislature hasn't approved the $97 million in cuts, he sees the money as already gone.
"These impactions mean we have to set priorities," he said.
The chancellor listed three priorities to put in place immediately: all the enrolled students will be first priority, all community college transfers who are eligible will be accepted, and first-time freshmen who are eligible and come from the specific universities' service regions will be accepted.
"If a student wants to go to San Diego and they are out of the service area, the criteria for those freshmen will probably have to be above a B average," Reed said.
However, colleges such as Chico State, Humboldt State and Sonoma State, which are in less populated areas, will not be as restricted to service area applicants, he said. For majors such as journalism, nursing and engineering, which are not available at all campuses, exceptions will be made for students applying outside the service area.
As the total number of students the CSU schools can hold has been lowered from 460,000 to 450,000, the campuses will decide their admissions targets based on school factors, Reed said.
Junior Maithias Stephan, a business management major, is worried about the toll the budget cuts will have on the system, he said.
"I don't feel the effects right now," he said. "But I am sure it is just going to get worse for California."
Stephan thinks that the state should cut funding from a program other than the higher education, he said.
Chico State's admissions target will be that of last year, 17,135 total students, said Director of Admissions Allan Bee. The university had originally planned to increase the number before the additional $97 million cuts.
A legislative analyst said things are only going to get worse for the state, Reed said.
"I will tell you that we have been treated as fair as any other state agency in the governor's cut recommendations," Reed said. "No one likes cuts, but if there is not money, something has to go."
Ben Burg can be reached at
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