Enrollment Plan

SJSU's total budgeted enrollment for 2020-21 is 26,500 FTES, an overall reduction of 2.5% compared to last year's enrollment plan.

Resource adjustments for target FTES are made based on each college's Marginal Cost of Instruction; while surplus FTES are funded at $2,800 each.

 Frequently Asked Questions 

• What is an enrollment target?

  • California State University (CSU) campuses are assigned an enrollment target for California resident students each year. The target is stated in terms of “full-time equivalent students (FTES)”. The CSU defines full-time status as follows—for undergraduate students, enrolling in 15 units each semester equals full-time status, and for graduate students, full-time status is 12 units per semester.

    Because many SJSU students do not enroll full-time due to work, family and/or other obligations, SJSU must enroll enough students to meet the target.

• Who sets the target?

  • The CSU Chancellor’s Office establishes the enrollment target for each of the 23 CSU campuses. The targets depend on the amount of state funding provided to the CSU each year in the California state budget. This means fluctuations in the California state budget from one year to the next can cause SJSU’s target to change.

    In good state budget years, targets generally increase and in poor state budget years the target can be significantly reduced.

• How is enrollment managed across the university?

  • Through the annual budget process, SJSU sets a total campus enrollment target. Targets are next established for each of SJSU’s eight academic colleges using a predictive analytical tool called the Induced Course Load Matrix (ICLM). Each college then works with their departments to determine the courses that will be offered each term, a decision that is balanced against the college’s enrollment target and available resources.

• What happens if SJSU does not meet its enrollment target?

  • It is not possible for a campus to exactly meet its target, so a small miss – 1% or less – will not result in any adverse effects. When a campus falls short of its target by more than 1%, its enrollment target may be reduced the following year. When a campus exceeds its target, the campus does not receive any state support funding for the excess students.

    State support currently covers about 57% of the cost of teaching a student. Although SJSU strongly supports greater access to higher education, it is our responsibility to provide a quality education to our student population, which means managing enrollment to match the amount of funding available.

• Why does SJSU enroll out-of-state and international students?

  • International and non-resident students are not factored into the enrollment limits campuses must comply with. That is, even if SJSU admitted zero international students, we would have the same limit on the number of California resident students we can serve. International students do not take away enrollment spots from California residents.

    State support for CSU follows the boom-and-bust cycle of the state budget. In years when the state supports fewer students, SJSU has the physical capacity to serve students who pay the full cost of their instruction (international and out-of-state students pay an additional Non-Resident Tuition Fee). The number of international/out-of-state students is small – about 10% of SJSU’s total student population. The revenues that come with these students help the campus maintain quality and access for all students. Additionally, international and out of state students provide a rich opportunity for all students to experience regional differences, global perspectives and diverse cultures.