San Jose State University
10/10/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/10/2024 15:36
More than 37,500 Spartans Enrolled in Fall Semester
Talk about a full house: This fall, San José State University's enrollment has reached impressive highs, totaling more than 37,500 students, an astonishing 103.5% of the 2024 enrollment target. This news comes on the heels of San José State's #4 ranking amongst regional universities in the West.Not only that - SJSU started the semester by launching the College of Information, Data and Society, and adding 37 new tenured and tenure-track faculty members.
"I am thrilled to share that we are welcoming one of our largest incoming first-year classes in recent history - about 4,600 new students, and over 3,000 transfers this fall with another 1200-1400 this spring," said SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson at her fall welcome. "We have more than 600 enrolled SJSU Online undergrads, a 50% increase from fall 2023. We also have a very robust suite of graduate degrees, many of which are seeing record enrollments this fall."
San José State is not the only California State University (CSU) experiencing this increase in enrollment. For the second consecutive year, the CSU welcomed an all-time high number of first-time, first-year students for fall 2024-more than 68,500 new students across its 23 universities. Preliminary data also show an overall enrollment increase of 2% from the 2023-2024 year to more than 461,000 students and a similar percentage growth in the number of California residents enrolled. CSU's enrollment for 2024 is also reflective of California's dynamically diverse demographics, with more than half of first-year students from historically underserved groups (including? Latinx, Black and Native American students?).
"This promising upward momentum demonstrates the confidence that Californians have in the extraordinary power of a CSU degree to transform lives, particularly for America's new majority, which is comprised of first-generation students, students of color, low-income students and adults seeking new opportunities," said Chancellor Mildred García. "Our world-class faculty and staff look forward to supporting our new scholars' success as the CSU continues to advance our multi-year, holistic enrollment growth strategy, focusing on recruitment, retention and strengthening pathways for community college transfer students."
The CSU's increased enrollment numbers for fall 2024 are also a testament to the monumental efforts of financial aid staff across the 23 universities to ensure that admitted students and their families had additional time to receive and consider financial aid offers that were delayed due to the difficulties in rolling out the 2024-25 FAFSA-the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
University financial aid teams worked tirelessly to meet urgent needs, including quickly reaching out to students with incomplete FAFSAs, offering care and reassurance to concerned students and parents, and rapidly processing thousands of provisional aid offers once federal data was received. The CSU also joined the University of California to extend its intent to register deadlinefor new students to allow more time for students to consider financial aid packages.
While many states saw double-digit declines in FAFSA applications as of August of this year, thanks in large part to the CSU's efforts, California is among the top 15 states with the highest 2024-25 FAFSA completion rates. Furthermore, federal Pell Grant awards for CSU students increased system-wide and at most campuses for fall 2024. Increases in federal Pell awards improve access and affordability and minimize debt for CSU's diverse students.
In addition to a record-breaking first-time, first-year student headcount, CSU saw growth over 2023 enrollment among transfer students (7%), continuing undergraduate students (1%) and graduate students (2%). Final systemwide enrollment figures are expected to be available in November.
All 23 CSU campuses are now accepting applications for admission for the fall 2025 term through December 2, 2024. Visit Calstate.edu/applyto learn more.