In a time of uncertainty and nationwide economic downfall due to a global pandemic, educators across the nation assumed that university enrollment numbers would decline. Despite virtual learning and an absence of the traditional college experience, the California State University system defied the national trend and saw an overall gain in enrollment at over half of the CSU universities. However, some universities are still struggling with declining enrollments, such as Humboldt and Sonoma State.

“It got a lot of attention nationally and certainly in California, [as] it provided certainty in a moment of remarkable uncertainty in our society” said retiring Chancellor Timothy White in an interview with EdSource. 

Fresno State saw a 5% increase, a historical high, during the pandemic. Director of Admissions and Recruitment for Fresno State Phong Yang attributes the university’s intense outreach efforts to the admission increase. “Knowing that the pandemic could make the enrollment scenario more concerning for colleges, Fresno State undertook a months-long campaign to ramp up outreach efforts to incoming and current students, emphasizing the value of a college degree, especially in an economy ravaged by COVID” said Yang.

Knowing early on about the transition to virtual learning, Yang and his team executed their efforts in performing online programs and outreach. Yang’s team performed more than 60 webinars for about 9000 participants, where he discussed topics such as registration, success programs, and more.

However, despite the overall success for the CSU system as a whole, Sonoma State found a decline in enrollment, with admissions going down 9.7%. According to EdSource, Sonoma State has 7,807 enrolled students for the Fall semester of 2020. 

Interim Public Information Officer at Sonoma State Robert Eyler stated that COVID-19, and the risk of travel and the virus itself, is the main reason Sonoma State saw such a dramatic decrease in enrollment. 

In addition, the cost of off-campus housing continues to defer students from attending state universities outside of their home region. Both Eyler and Yang noted that northern California schools depend on outer regions or out of state students for enrollment. The Bay Area is one of the most expensive areas to live in the United States, and many students do not have the resources to afford housing. 

Another issue that Sonoma State faces is student retention. There has been an ongoing lack of student retention, for whatever reasons, and it continues to plague Sonoma State. SSU is aiming to improve advising resources, in order to defeat this issue, said Eyler. These drops in enrollment are a major factor in budget cuts and shortages. 

In the EdSource.org article, Eyler mentioned that each department across campus was asked to cut 12% of their budgets, and the university saved over $1.3 million by delaying checks or cutting back staff hires. Without proper funding, programs, classes and resources are cut from universities; however, some campuses found a way to circumnavigate their funding issues through extended education courses. From EdSouce.org, these extended education programs allow extra income for universities, and they provide better opportunity and stability for full-time working students or parents.

Despite cuts and COVID-19, Sonoma State remains optimistic about the future spring semester and beyond. Eyler mentioned that the strategic enrollment management, SEM, team is implementing new strategies and techniques to increase enrollment. Most notably, “[SSU] is lifting impaction for first-time, first-year students, and the university is focusing outreach and recruitment efforts more strategically with an emphasis on SSU’s six-county local service region (Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties),” said Eyler.

Like the rest of the state and country, SSU hopes it can open its doors sooner, rather than later. However, with the CSU system already declaring an online spring semester, the college experience will be postponed for now, along with the international desire of normalcy in higher education.