Enrollment at Chico State University in the fall is expected to be around 16,000, which is about 1,000 fewer students than were enrolled the previous fall, according to Allan Bee, the campus' director of admissions.
It's been about five years since Chico State had a fall enrollment as low as 16,000, Bee said. He noted the projection of 16,000 was only his "best guesstimate." The actual fall enrollment might be somewhat higher or lower.
All 23 campuses in the California State University system are reducing enrollment this fall because of an order from CSU Chancellor Charles Reed. Since the CSU budget has been cut, it's necessary to lower enrollment, Reed said.
He ordered the campuses to cut enrollment by 9.5 percent. Chico
State President Paul Zingg convinced Reed to let the local campus reduce enrollment by 8.5 percent.
Bee said he thought Reed agreed to this for a couple of reasons. First, many of Chico State's students transfer from Butte College, and there aren't other nearby CSU campuses these students could apply to. Also, allowing an 8.5 percent enrollment drop instead of 9.5 percent would lessen the impact on Chico's economy, which is strongly affected by student spending.