CSU Online Applications Up By 69 Percent

Continuing four-years of snowballing growth, online admission applications to the California State University for fall 2002 have increased 69 percent. CSUMentor, the online system that helps students and their families plan for and apply to the CSU, received 157,960 applications between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30, up from 93,672 during the same period last year.

In anticipation of a record-setting pace of applications, Los Angeles-based Xap Corporation, which designed CSUMentor, had increased its server capacity. Nearly 40,000 applications were received on the last two days before the November 30 deadline.

“This was a banner year for CSUMentor, thanks to the students, their counselors, and the Xap Corporation,” said Allison Jones, assistant vice chancellor for student academic support. “Students, with the help of their counselors, completed their college planning early and applied on time, while Xap did its part to help the CSU handle the load efficiently. It’s clear that CSUMentor has become a valuable college preparation tool for California’s students.”

The CSUMentor system has experienced soaring popularity since it was first implemented in 1997. This fall’s increase follows a 70 percent increase in online applications in fall 2000, and a nearly four-fold increase in fall 1999 over the previous year. It is estimated that this year nearly half of all CSU applicants will apply on line.

After the initial fall 2002 application period, which lasted from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, campuses will continue to accept applications on a space-available basis. Two campuses, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San Diego State, only accept applications during the initial filing periods. CSU Chico and CSU Long Beach only accept applications from first-time freshmen during the initial filing period. Sonoma State will accept applications from first-time freshman during October through December only for fall 2002 applicants.

Filing during the initial application period is required for high-demand majors and is strongly encouraged for applicants who want to attend their first-choice campus.

CSUMentor, a free service, also offers multimedia campus tours, student-campus matching assistance, free e-mail accounts, academic planners, and assistance in completing financial aid forms. Students pay only the regular application fee charged by the CSU campus when they submit an application for admission. For more information, see www.csumentor.edu.