Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Senate Bill 640 expanding the CSU’s Direct Admissions Program to school districts across California, but Cal State Fullerton will not participate.
Direct Admissions will allow CSUs to make an offer of admissions to students, before they have applied, if they meet certain academic standards. CSU plans to work with districts and high schools to obtain student information, first occurring in the fall cycle of 2027. The law will take effect Jan. 1, 2026.
“Cal State Fullerton is one of six impacted campuses that will not participate in the direct admission program,” reported in a statement provided by Cerise Metzger, the university’s director of public relations. “Students applying to CSUF and other impacted campuses must meet additional admissions requirements.”
The other five campuses not participating include San Jose State, San Diego State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Long Beach.
“CSUF’s enrollment continues to grow, and the university is among the CSU campuses that will continue to use the standard admission process,” the university wrote.
According to the CSUF’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning, CSUF enrolled almost 43,000 students, which increased in fall 2025 by an estimated 4.87%, with 45,147 students enrolled, becoming the largest student body in the CSU system.
16 CSU campuses will participate in the direct admissions program. The six impacted campuses will not participate due to already high enrollment.
“SB 640 aims to increase enrollment on some CSU campuses with declining rates,” the university wrote.
SB 640 builds on the CSU’s first systemwide direct admissions program implemented within the Riverside County Office of Education. During the fall 2025 term, approximately 12,000 students from public high schools in Riverside County were offered direct admissions to 10 CSUs.
RCOE’s 23 districts and 20 additional districts across the state will remain in this existing direct admissions program. Eligible students in those districts have begun to receive notification of their offer of admission.
Additionally, the bill extends CSU’s existing student Transfer Success Pathway until the 2035-2036 academic year.
For students who plan to enroll in a community college after high school graduation, the Transfer Student Success Pathway program requires students to enter an agreement with the CSU to receive guaranteed admission to the degree program and campus of choice. The program increases access to all CSU’s 22 universities.
“The bill also guarantees qualified students will be admitted to a CSU campus during a future academic year if the student successfully completes an associate degree for transfer or another established course of study for transfer within three academic years at a California community college,” the university wrote.
High school courses and grades will automatically populate, but students must complete the remaining application questions and select which CSUs they wish to apply to. Students must still pay the $70 application fee per campus.
For students applying for fall 2026, the priority application is Oct. 1 to Dec. 1.