California State University, Long Beach

California State University, Long Beach (also known as Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach State, CSULB, LBSU, or The Beach) is the second largest campus

Campus

A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...

of the California State University

California State University

The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...

(CSU) system and the third largest university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

in the state of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

by enrollment. The University is located at the southeastern coastal tip of Los Angeles County, less than one mile from the border with Orange County

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

.

CSULB has been recognized repeatedly as one of "America's Best Value Colleges" by the Princeton Review. More than 30 factors are considered to rate the colleges in four categories: academics, tuition GPA (the sticker price minus average amount students receive in gift aid scholarships and grants), financial aid (how well colleges meet students' financial need) and student borrowing. The university attained its highest ranking in the 2007 edition: the No. 3 best value public college in the nation. Every year that CSULB has been included in the Review's "Best Value Colleges" rankings, it was the only university in the CSU

California State University

system to receive such recognition.

Long Beach State has also been ranked as one of the top five public Master's Degree-granting institutions in the West

Western United States

.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...

by U.S. News and World Reports "America's Best Colleges Guide" in every year's edition from 2005 to 2011.

In addition, Long Beach State is one of the West Coast's

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

top universities in student body racial diversity, being named the 5th most diverse university in the West by U.S. News & World Report. It is also home to the largest publicly funded art school west of the Mississippi

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

. The university currently operates with one of the lowest student fees in the country at US $

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

4,370 per year for full time students having California residence.

History

The College was established in 1949 by California Governor Earl Warren

Earl Warren

Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...

, to serve the rapidly expanding post-World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

population of Orange

Orange County, California

and Southern Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

counties. Since then, CSULB has grown to become one of the state's largest and most well respected universities.

The institution was first known as Los Angeles-Orange County State College. It offered 25 courses, taught by 13 faculty members, in two apartment buildings at 5381 Anaheim Road in Long Beach

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

. In June 1950, the citizens of Long Beach voted overwhelmingly to purchase 320 acres (129.5 ha) as a permanent campus for the college, then known as Long Beach State College. The purchase price was nearly $1,000,000. Student enrollment grew rapidly in this new, permanent location.

By 1960, the student body exceeded 10,000 students, and by 1966, 20,000. In 1964, LBSC changed its name to California State College at Long Beach to conform to the state system and enhance its prestige (it was renamed California State College, Long Beach in 1968).

In 1965, CSCLB hosted the first International Sculpture Symposium

International Sculpture Symposium

The International Sculpture Symposium movement was spearheaded by Karl Prantl in Austria in 1959.This initiative grew from the need to facilitate communication and exchange between members of the international sculpture community...

to be held in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and the first such symposium to be held at a college or university. Six sculptors from abroad and two from the United States created many of the monumental sculptures present on the campus. The event received national media attention from newspapers around the country, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

Magazine, Art in America

Art in America

Art in America is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It is designed for collectors, artists, dealers, art professionals and other...

and a six-page color spread in Fortune Magazine.

The school acquired university

University

status in 1972, along with 12 other state college campuses. The promotion was decided by the Board of Trustees of the California State University

California State University

system, according to total enrollment, size of graduate programs, complexity and diversity of majors and number of doctorates held by faculty at each college. CSCLB thus became CSULB.

Also in 1972, the campus became the home of the largest library facility in the then 19-campus CSU

California State University

system: a modern six-story building with a seating capacity

Seating capacity

Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...

of nearly 4,000 students.

In 1995, President Robert Maxson

Robert Maxson

Robert C. Maxson is a former president of Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nevada.He was president of University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1984 to 1994 and president of California State University, Long Beach from June 1994 until January 2006. He was succeeded there by F...

initiated the privately-funded President's Scholars Program, providing selected qualified California high school valedictorian

Valedictorian

Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...

s and National Merit finalists and semi-finalists with a full four-year scholarship package, including tuition, a book stipend, and housing. , over 1000 students have accepted the scholarship. For applicants for Fall 2010, National Achievement Program Semifinalists/Finalists and National Hispanic Recognition scholars were also considered.

, CSULB had 37,890 students in attendance, making it the most populous campus of the CSU system.

Campus

The campus spans 323 acres (130.7 ha) across 84 buildings, and is located 3 miles (4.8 km) from the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. It has its own U.S. Postal Zip code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

: 90840. CSULB is located at 1250 Bellflower Boulevard. It is bounded by East 7th Street to the south, East Atherton Street to the north, Bellflower Boulevard to the west, and Palo Verde Avenue to the east.

Architecture

The architecture of the campus is mostly of the International style

International style (architecture)

The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...

(designed primarily by noted architect Edward Killingsworth

Edward Killingsworth

Edward Killingsworth, FAIA was an American architect. He is best known as a participant in Arts & Architecture's Case Study program in the mid-1950s. He designed and built Case Study House #25, "The Frank House," in Naples, California. He also designed numerous luxury hotels all over the world and...

) and is very minimalist, placing emphasis instead on the landscaping that surrounds it. This naturalistic, park-like layout has earned the campus numerous design awards, as well as other awards from gardening societies. Recent construction maintains the characteristic glass-and-brick style. The integration of landscaping and architecture is apparent at the school's theater complex, where a dense grove of ficus

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

trees is planted in such a way that it forms a continuation of the pillar-supported canopy at the theater's entrance. The University's registration offices are located in the open courtyard of Brotman Hall, which is "roofed" by a similar jungle-like canopy. The Psychology building is also notable for its soaring, airy courtyard planted with tall Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

trees.

Campus landmarks

The University Student Union (USU) building is located at the center of campus. The three-story glass building occupies roughly 180000 square feet (16,722.5 m²), housing numerous offices, and offering more casual attractions, including a study lounge, a ballroom, a food court, a bowling alley, an arcade, and a movie theater.

49er basketball and volleyball games are currently played in the iconic, eighteen-story Walter Pyramid

Walter Pyramid

Walter Pyramid, formerly known as Long Beach Pyramid, is a 5,000-seat, indoor multi-purpose stadium on the campus of California State University, Long Beach in Long Beach, California.-History:...

(formerly known as the Long Beach Pyramid) located on north campus. The Pyramid is a state-of-the-art sporting complex that can accommodate over 5,000 fans, including temporary seating and standing room. Two sections of interior stands are fitted with large hydraulic lifts which can lift the seating elements forty-five degrees into the air, creating room for five volleyball courts or three basketball courts. The Pyramid is home to the Southern California Summer Pro League, a noted showcase for current and prospective NBA basketball players.

The University Art Museum (UAM) ranks in the top 10% of the nation's over 6,000 museums. Its permanent collection contains primarily abstract expressionist paintings, works on paper, and an outdoor sculpture garden that began in 1966. The UAM was the first accredited museum in the CSU system

California State University

. In addition, the museum's Gordon F. Hampton collection is housed at the Downtown Los Angeles

Downtown Los Angeles

Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...

law offices of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton.

The campus is also home to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center

Carpenter Performing Arts Center

The Carpenter Performing Arts Center is a venue for a variety of events including films, forums, and musical and theater performances. It is located on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. It was built in 1994 and has seating for 1,074. The stage area was modeled after the New...

, a 1,074-seat theater named after CSULB alumni Richard and Karen Carpenter

The Carpenters

Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...

.

The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden

The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is a Japanese garden encompassing on the campus of California State University, Long Beach, in Long Beach, California, USA. It was dedicated in 1981. Ed Lovell, landscape master plan architect for the University, traveled to Japan and took inspiration from the...

is an artistic retreat of solitude and beauty. Among its many picturesque attractions, The Garden features a large pond populated with koi

Koi

or more specifically , are ornamental varieties of domesticated common carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens....

.

One of the newest areas that has become integral to student life in the Parkside dormitories is The Circle. The Circle was formed as part of the central landscaping of the Parkside Commons outdoor common area when a group of students moved the 4 'S' shaped stone benches residing there into a circle formation in the Fall of 2008. Since then, The Circle (also known as the Late Night Circle, due to its high concentration of nighttime denizens) has become the defining marker of the Parkside experience, and it continues to provide a fun hangout for the residents of Parkside Commons.

Puvunga

The campus is believed to be the location of an ancient Tongva village and burial site known as Puvunga

Puvunga

Puvunga is an ancient village and burial site believed to have once been populated by the Tongva people, who are the indigenous inhabitants of the region around Los Angeles, California...

, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. CSULB has challenged this designation, claiming they were not consulted when the application was filed. From 1992 to 1995, when the university attempted to build a strip mall

Strip mall

A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...

and student housing on the last undeveloped portion of the campus, the Tongva people filed a lawsuit and initiated a protest, which involved physically occupying the land day and night to stave off bulldozer

Bulldozer

A bulldozer is a crawler equipped with a substantial metal plate used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction work and typically equipped at the rear with a claw-like device to loosen densely-compacted materials.Bulldozers can be found on a wide range of sites,...

Future development

In the Spring of 2007, the student body voted to approve the construction of a student recreation and wellness center on campus. Slated for completion by Fall 2010, the Rec and Wellness Center was planned to be an extensive all-purpose athletic center covering about 125000 square feet (11,612.9 m²) on North Campus. Plans included facilities for fitness programs and aerobics classes, courts for volleyball, basketball and badminton, rock climbing walls, an indoor track, a student lounge, and much more. This program is funded and managed by CSULB's Associated Students, Incorporated. This project has been completed and had its first opening the week before the fall semester of 2010.

Campus sustainability

The University, in its push to support climate sustainability, installed solar panels on the Brotman Hall building and the Facilities Management canopy parking in 2007. The University has been taking steps in addressing the challenge of sustainability, with the support of its student government, student body, and organizations, such as the Environmental Science & Policy Club.

The Environmental Science & Policy Club (ES&P Club) has brought support to environmental awareness and sustainability through club activities, such as coastal clean-ups, hikes, plant-restoration project, tabling, conferences, guest speakers, & Kaleidoscope. In 2006, the ES&P Club supported the installation of waterless urinals in the University's men's restrooms. The ES&P Club hosts an annual Earth Week celebration each April, including documentary screenings, discussions, and speaker series.

The University "has a comprehensive energy management program incorporating real-time metering and energy-saving technologies such as the EnergySaver, which provides a more sophisticated alternative to turning off the lights by automatically varying the voltage to the ballasted fixtures and reducing the power consumed, while maintaining appropriate lighting levels."

Public transportation

The campus is currently serviced by:

Long Beach Transit
Long Beach Transit
Long Beach Transit is a municipal transit company providing fixed and flexible bus transit services in Long Beach, California, United States, other communities in South and Southeast Los Angeles County and Northwestern Orange County. Long Beach Transit also operates the Passport shuttle, Aquabus,...

(routes 81, 91, 92, 93, 94, 171, 173, 96 ZAP, and Passport D)
OCTA
Orange County Transportation Authority
The Orange County Transportation Authority is the public sector transportation planning body and mass transit service provider for Orange County, California. Its ancestor agencies include not only the prior Orange County Transit District but also such diverse entities as the Pacific Electric...

(routes 1, 50, and 60)
LACMTA
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is the California state-chartered regional transportation planning agency and public transportation operating agency for the County of Los Angeles formed in 1993 out of a merger of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the...

Express
Metro Express
Metro Express is a form of express bus service in Los Angeles County, California, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Buses are usually express for a portion of the route, then run either local or limited stop in other areas...

(route 577X, LACMTA Blue Line
LACMTA Blue Line
The Blue Line is a light rail line running north-south route between Long Beach and downtown Los Angeles passing through Downtown LA, including South Los Angeles, Watts, Willowbrook, Compton, and Long Beach in the Los Angeles County; it is one of five lines in the Metro Rail System...

also provides service to the Long Beach area, accessible by bus routes)

In September 2008, President F. King Alexander announced the school's new "U-PASS" program in conjunction with Long Beach Transit. Under the new partnership, students with a valid CSULB I.D. card ride any Long Beach Transit bus for free during school months.

Academics

CSULB comprises eight academic colleges:

College of the Arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
College of Business Administration
College of Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
College of Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
College of Health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

& Human Services
College of Liberal Arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
College of Continuing & Professional Education

Together, the colleges offer a total of 81 baccalaureate

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

degrees, 67 master's

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

degrees, 16 education-related credential

Credential

A credential is an attestation of qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant or de facto authority or assumed competence to do so....

programs, and three doctoral

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

degrees (two joint and one independent).

The University's educational goals reflect its large population of students and faculty. Among the numerous classes and majors, Liberal Arts

Liberal arts

The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

and Sciences represent the General Education

Core Curriculum

The Core Curriculum was originally developed as the main curriculum used by Columbia University's Columbia College. It began in 1919 with "Contemporary Civilization," about the origins of western civilization. It became the framework for many similar educational models throughout the United States...

(GE) core, while a variety of classes make up GE electives; all GE classes focus on the development of writing and critical thinking skills.

Academic department reputations

CSU Long Beach's College of the Arts has more art and design

Design

Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

majors than any other public university in America. CSU Long Beach also produces the most master of science in nursing

Nursing

Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....

(MSN) graduates in the 23-campus CSU system.

U.S. News and World Report has repeatedly ranked CSULB engineering program as one of the Top 50 undergraduate programs in the nation (amongst master's

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

level universities), and even commended the University's programs for first-year students as "stellar examples of academic programs that lead to student success." In 2008, CSULB's engineering program received its highest ever ranking at number 38 Long Beach's programs in Accounting, Business Administration, Geography

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, History

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, Nursing

Nursing

, and Art

The arts

The arts are a vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavors and disciplines. It is a broader term than "art", which as a description of a field usually means only the visual arts. The arts encompass visual arts, literary arts and the performing arts – music, theatre, dance and...

are also well respected in the industry.

In addition, according to the National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

, CSULB is the top campus in the nation amongst Master's level-granting universities for producing students who go on to earn doctoral

Doctorate

degrees in the Sciences

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

.

In March 2008, the music department was renamed the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music

Bob Cole Conservatory of Music

The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music is the school of music at California State University, Long Beach. In March 2008, the music department was renamed the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music in honor of an endowment gift of $16.4 million dollars from his estate. Cole, a Long Beach real estate investor,...

in honor of an endowment gift of $16.4 million from his estate. Cole, a Long Beach real estate investor, long-time music lover, and amateur pianist, died in 2004. The gift benefits the students of the conservatory in the form of scholarships and other awards.

Admission

For the Fall 2010 semester, CSULB received 79,715 applications for admission, by far the highest total in school history and continuing the increasing trend of recent years. The total also was the highest in the CSU

California State University

system, as well as one of the highest among all universities in the nation. The campus also had the highest number of first time freshman and transfer applicants in the CSU. Despite the growing number of applications, the lack of state funding due to California's continuing budget crisis meant that CSULB could only offer admission to 25,142 (31.5%) of the applicants; that again marked the lowest percentage in school history. In turn 8,920 (35.5%) of those offered admission did in fact enroll, meaning the total application yield rate for the Fall 2010 semester was 11.6%.

The average high school GPA

Academic grading in the United States

Academic grading in the United States most commonly takes on the form of five letter grades. Historically, the grades were A, B, C, D, and F—A being the highest and F, denoting failure, the lowest. In the mid-twentieth century, many American educational institutions—especially in the Midwest —began...

of incoming freshmen for Fall 2010 was 3.60, and the average SAT

SAT

The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...

score for Fall 2010 was 1031/1600 (the writing section is not considered). In recent years, the university has been forced to limit admit rates to about one-third of all applicants. CSULB had the lowest admit rate in the CSU system in Fall 2009, and the second lowest in Fall 2010 (behind San Diego State

San Diego State University

San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...

's 30%). CSULB's average SAT score was the 7th highest in the CSU.

For the Fall 2011 semester, Initial reports indicate that CSULB received 70,536 applications, once again topping all other campuses in the CSU system. While the total number of applications dropped by over 9,000 from the previous year, the number of first-time freshman applicants grew by over 2,000 to 49,764. And even though the number of transfer applicants dropped to 20,039, it was still only the second time in school history that the number topped 20,000. In light of further anticipated state budget cuts, school officials declined to speculate on how many offers of admission would be made.

Student life

2011 Demographics of student body
	Undergraduate
African American African American African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...	4.2%
Asian American Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...	21.0%
White American White American White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...	26.3%
Hispanic American	29.7%
Native American Native Americans in the United States Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...	0.6%
International International ----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...	9.1%
Ethnicity unreported/unknown	9.2%

CSULB hosts over 350 events annually, welcoming more than 150,000 patrons to its performance halls, conference centers, and exhibit venues.

Greek Life - Sororities & Fraternities

National sororities on campus are governed by the Panhellenic Association and are members of the National Panhellenic Conference

National Panhellenic Conference

The National Panhellenic Conference , founded in 1902, is an umbrella organization for 26 national women's sororities.Each member group is autonomous as a social, Greek-letter society of college women and alumnae...

. Eleven general fraternities and two fraternity colonies are members of and governed by the Interfraternity Council.

Campus publications

The university has two student publications: the Daily 49er and the Union Weekly (formerly The Long Beach Union Newspaper). The first issue of the Daily 49er, the campus newspaper, was published on November 11, 1949. It publishes Monday through Thursday during the fall and spring semesters, and once weekly during the summer sessions. It was one of the first college newspapers in the country to have an Internet edition, starting in August 1994.

The Union Weekly, which is partially student-funded, and affiliated with ASI, publishes every Monday during fall and spring semesters. It began on April 22, 1977, when it was formed in response to the Daily 49er. The Union Weekly focuses on being an alternative voice on campus and features a satirical section called "The Grunion" (not to be confused with the Long Beach paper the Grunion Gazette). At one time in the early 1980s, the Union was a daily newspaper, giving heavy competition to the Daily 49er.

KKJZ 88.1 FM

The California State University Long Beach Foundation owns the KKJZ

KKJZ

KKJZ is a non-commercial public radio station in Southern California broadcasting from the Long Beach State campus. The station is one of several public radio stations in Southern California presenting jazz and blues....

non-commercial broadcast license of 88.1 FM, a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

and blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

radio station. Global Jazz, Inc., an affiliate of Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, Inc., programs and manages the radio station. KJAZZ Official Website

KBeach internet radio

Kbeach

Kbeach Global Radio, also known as KBeach.org, is a free format, student run internet radio station at California State University, Long Beach. The radio station is operated during the fall and spring semesters. The station has been around in various forms since the mid-1970s, then known as KSUL...

is a student-run Internet stream that has had a presence on campus in various forms since the 1970s. The independent and mainstream music channel is streamed over the Internet and piped into the University Student Union.

Pow Wow

Each March since 1970, the University has hosted the largest pow-wow

Pow-wow

A pow-wow is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning "spiritual leader". A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American...

in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

. This free two-day event, which attracts more than 6,000 persons each year, features Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

dancing, art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

s, craft

Craft

A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...

and native foods.

Notable people

Alumni have written and directed screenplays that have attracted Oscar-caliber talent. David Twohy

David Twohy

David Neil Twohy is an American film director and screenwriter.-Life and career:Twohy was born in Los Angeles County, California...

(BA) co-wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award winning film The Fugitive

The Fugitive (1993 film)

The Fugitive is a 1993 American thriller film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best...

. Linda Woolverton

Linda Woolverton

Linda Woolverton is an American writer who wrote the screenplay for Disney's animated feature film Beauty and the Beast and co-wrote the screenplay for the The Lion King. Woolverton then went on to write the Broadway musical version of Beauty and the Beast and assisted in adapting The Lion King to...

(BA 1974) wrote the screenplays for the Academy Award winning, Disney animated films Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)

Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...

and The Lion King

The Lion King

The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...

, and the live-action 2010 film Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)

Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...

directed by Oscar-nominated director Tim Burton

Tim Burton

Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...

and starring Oscar-nominated actor Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp

John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...

. J.F. Lawton (BA) wrote the screenplay to Pretty Woman

Pretty Woman

Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...

, starring the Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts

Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...

. Mark Steven Johnson

Mark Steven Johnson

Mark Steven Johnson is an American film director and writer.Johnson was born in Hastings, Minnesota and attended California State University, Long Beach. He has directed and co-written the two comic book based films Daredevil and Ghost Rider. His early writing credits are for the film Grumpy Old...

(BA 1989) has co-written and directed the films Daredevil

Daredevil (film)

Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil...

, starring Oscar-winning actor Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck

Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...

, and Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider (film)

Ghost Rider is a 2007 superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the character of the same name which appeared in Marvel Comics, the film stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the Devil and transforms into thevigilante Ghost...

, starring Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...

Former students have won at least five Academy Awards

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

. Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

(Class of 1969, BFA 2002) won two Oscars for Best Directing for Schindler's List

Schindler's List

Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...

and Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Robert Rodat. The film is notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depicts the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944....

and has directed a number of other successful movies such as Jaws

Jaws (film)

Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...

, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...

, and Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park (film)

Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...

. Former industrial design major John Dykstra

John Dykstra

John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. is an Academy Award-winning special effects supervisor and pioneer in the development of the use of computers in filmmaking.-Education and early career:...

, who has been nominated five times for Academy Awards, won two Oscars for his special effects work on the George Lucas

George Lucas

George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...

film Star Wars

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...

and the Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi

Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...

film Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Alvin Sargent and developed by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Michael Chabon. It is the second film in the Spider-Man film franchise based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...

. Deborah L. Scott (BA) won an Oscar for costume design for the James Cameron

James Cameron

James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...

film Titanic

Titanic (1997 film)

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

-nominated director Chris Carter

Chris Carter (screenwriter)

Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...

(BA 1979) created the series The X Files, which garnered several awards during its nine seasons on television. Former student Steve Martin

Steve Martin

Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....

, whose philosophy classes at the university inspired him to become a professional comedian, is an Emmy Award

Emmy Award

winner and a Disney Legend.

Alumni and former students have also participated in the world of sports. Jason Giambi

Jason Giambi

Jason Gilbert Giambi is an American professional baseball first baseman with the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball.He was the American League MVP in 2000 while with the Oakland Athletics, and is a five-time All-Star who has led the American League in walks four times, in on base percentage...

, Evan Longoria

Evan Longoria

Evan Michael Longoria is a Major League Baseball third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays. Formerly, Longoria was a star infielder for the Long Beach State University baseball team, the Cape Cod League MVP, and the Big West Co-Player of the Year.He made his major league debut for the Rays in , and...

, Troy Tulowitzki

Troy Tulowitzki

Troy Trevor Tulowitzki , nicknamed Tulo, is a Major League Baseball shortstop for the Colorado Rockies.Tulowitzki's arm, range and instincts at shortstop are highly regarded...

, Harold Reynolds

Harold Reynolds

Harold Craig Reynolds is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. He played from 1983–1994, primarily for the Seattle Mariners.-High school:...

, Jered Weaver

Jered Weaver

Jered David Weaver , is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim...

and Steve Trachsel

Steve Trachsel

Stephen Christopher Trachsel , nicknamed "The Human Rain Delay", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is known for the long amount of time he takes to deliver the ball to home plate in between pitches. Games in which he pitches are known to be considerably longer than most games, leading...

have all been selected to play in the Major League Baseball All Stars

Major League Baseball All-Star Game

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...

games. Golfer Mark O'Meara

Mark O'Meara

Mark Francis O'Meara is an American professional golfer who was a prolific tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s...

(BA 1980) won the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship

The Open Championship

The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...

. Craig Hodges

Craig Hodges

Craig Anthony Hodges is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA for 10 seasons and led the league in 3-point shooting percentage three times...

is a two-time NBA Champion

NBA Finals

The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....

, Terrell Davis

Terrell Davis

Terrell Lamar Davis is a former American football running back who played for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League from 1995 to 2001. Davis was drafted by the Broncos in the sixth round of the 1995 NFL Draft. Davis is the Denver Broncos all-time leading rusher, with 7,607 rushing...

is a two-time Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

champion and Billy Parks

Billy Parks

William James "Billy" Parks was a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League...

played five seasons in the NFL. Diver

Diving

Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

Pat McCormick

Pat McCormick (diver)

Patricia Joan McCormick is a retired female diver from the United States, who won a total number of four gold medals by winning both diving events at two consecutive Summer Olympics ....

won four gold medals in two consecutive Olympics (Helsinki

1952 Summer Olympics

The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...

and Melbourne

1956 Summer Olympics

The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...

), and Misty May-Treanor

Misty May-Treanor

Misty Erie May-Treanor is an American professional volleyball player. She has won more tournaments than any other female player with 107 career wins....

(BS 2002) won two gold medals in women's beach volleyball

Beach volleyball

Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....

in two other consecutive Olympics (Athens

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

and Beijing

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

).

Former students Karen Carpenter

Karen Carpenter

Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...

and Richard Carpenter

Richard Carpenter (musician)

Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American pop musician, best known as one half of the brother/sister duo The Carpenters, along with his sister Karen Carpenter. He was a producer, arranger, pianist and keyboardist, and occasional lyricist, as well as joining with Karen on harmony...

(Class of 1972, Honorary Doctorate 2000) of The Carpenters

The Carpenters

are the nameakes of the Carpenter Performing Arts Center

Carpenter Performing Arts Center

, a 1,065-seat performance hall on the campus of the university that also houses an exhibit on the Carpenters. Richard Carpenter's college instructor and choir director Frank Pooler

Frank Pooler

Frank Pooler is an award-winning American choirmaster, and former Director of Choral Studies at California State University, Long Beach.-Professional career:...

inspired him in choral arrangement, and both Karen and Richard participated in Pooler's choir. Pooler also introduced Richard to fellow undergraduate and future song-writing collaborator John Bettis

John Bettis

John Bettis is an American lyricist who has co-written many famous popular songs over the years. In 2011, John was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame....

. Another undergraduate, Wesley Jacobs, would join the Carpenters as a musical instrumentalist. The Carpenters sold over 100 million records, won three Grammy Awards out of eighteen nominations, and created numerous gold

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...

and platinum

RIAA certification

albums

The Carpenters discography

The discography of the American pop group the Carpenters, consists of twelve studio albums, two christmas albums, two live albums, forty-six singles, and numerous compilation albums. The duo made up of Karen Carpenter and her elder brother Richard Carpenter .The siblings started their musical...

. One of Pooler's personal poems formed the basis for Merry Christmas Darling

Merry Christmas Darling

"Merry Christmas, Darling" by The Carpenters was written by Richard Carpenter & Frank Pooler and originally recorded in 1970. At the time, it was first available on a 7" single from A&M Records and later in 1974 reissued as A&M 1648 and in 1977 as A&M 1991...

, which went to #1 on the Billboard charts

Billboard charts

The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...

for three years. Bettis, who later would win an Emmy Award

Emmy Award

himself, also successfully collaborated on songs with other artists, such as Human Nature

Human Nature (Michael Jackson song)

"Human Nature" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written and composed by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis, and produced by Quincy Jones. It is the fifth single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Initially, Porcaro had recorded a rough demo of the song on a...

performed by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

, Crazy for You

Crazy for You (song)

"Crazy for You" is a song by American singer Madonna for the 1985 film Vision Quest. It was released on March 2, 1985, by Geffen Records as the first single from the soundtrack album of the film, and later included on the ballads compilation Something to Remember...

performed by Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

, and One Moment in Time

One Moment in Time

"One Moment in Time" is an Emmy Award winning song written by Albert Hammond and John Bettis, and recorded by American singer Whitney Houston for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Summer Paralympics held in Seoul, South Korea.-History:...

performed by Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...

External links

Official website

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