High School Seniors to Be Automatically Accepted at 16 California State Universities

"Class of 2026 seniors with a minimum 2.5 GPA from 43 California school districts, including several in the Bay Area, can now automatically enroll at 16 schools in the CSU system, and in 2027, eligible seniors from all 937 districts statewide will automatically be accepted. As CalMatters reports, California Senate Bill 640, which went into effect January 1, aims to boost enrollment at 16 California State University campuses, including San Francisco State, Cal State East Bay, and Sonoma State,"

"Students from public schools statewide will be eligible, in addition to students from county-run schools and charter schools tied to local educational agencies but they'll still need to enroll through CaliforniaColleges.edu and pay their tuition. As Sacramento's KPBS reports, the initiative, which began as a pilot program in Riverside County in Southern California, officially started rolling out this year, enabling graduating seniors from 43 school districts, including several in Alameda, Napa, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Sonoma counties, to automatically enroll in fall classes."

California Senate Bill 640 allows Class of 2026 seniors with a minimum 2.5 GPA from 43 school districts to automatically enroll at 16 California State University campuses, with statewide eligibility across all 937 districts beginning in 2027. Eligible students include those from public, county-run, and charter schools tied to local educational agencies; admitted students must still enroll via CaliforniaColleges.edu and pay tuition. The program began as a Riverside County pilot and is rolling out to districts including several in Alameda, Napa, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Sonoma counties. Six CSU campuses with nearly full enrollment are exempt from the program.

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