California State University – Long Beach

long beach state graduate programs

Degree Programs at California State University – Long Beach

California State University – Long Beach appears in our ranking of 50 Great Affordable Colleges in the West.

California State University – Long Beach, better known as Cal State Long Beach, is a public university in California that offers hundreds of majors and programs for students. Each of the programs designed for undergrads come from one of the seven colleges that make up the university. It has a College of Education for education majors who want to become teachers. This college helps students get their teaching licenses and prepares them to teach multiple disciplines at the elementary or secondary level. Education majors can expect to do fieldwork in a local school.

The College of Liberal Arts is the university’s largest college and offers more programs than any of its other colleges do. Students can major in Chicano and Latin Studies or learn more about other cultural groups in programs that focus on Jewish Studies or Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. This college also offers degree programs in anthropology, psychology, and sociology. Students applying to the College of Engineering can study a specific field such as aerospace, chemical or construction engineering. The mechanical engineering program offers concentrations in materials, technology and manufacturing and biomedical and chemical engineering among others.

Cal State Long Beach has a graduate school that offers degree programs in more than 50 fields. Master of Arts degrees are available in education, geography, economics, Spanish, kinesiology, and English. The university offers one of the state’s only graduate programs in dance and has a similar program designed for theater majors. Master of Science programs allows students to pick majors in fields such as computer science, kinesiology, supply chain management, and criminal justice. The university also has Master of Social Work (MSW) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs.

About California State University – Long Beach

Though many people call California State University – Long Beach CSU Long Beach, it also goes by other names, including CSULB, The Beach and Long Beach State. Some of those names are from the days when the university operated as an independent college. Founded in 1949 as Salinas – Orange Beach County College, it took over two apartment buildings in the area and offered classes out of those buildings. When the college established its own campus the following year, it became Long Beach State College. The college would change its name a few more times before joining the California State University system. As part of CSU, the university grew even faster as new students enrolled and it added new degree programs.

Cal State Long Beach now offers options for both undergrads and older students. The university has a strong reputation for the sustainability programs that it launched over the years. One of those programs led to the university adding solar panels to many of its campus buildings. Its campus is home to the Desert Studies Center, which allows students to study the effects people and the environment has on deserts in California and other parts of the world. While Washington Monthly ranked its graduate school as the nation’s 64th best, U.S. News and World Report ranked Cal State Long Beach as the 26th best university in the western region. The university now has an enrollment closing in on 40,000 students.

California State University – Long Beach Accreditation Details

Cal State Long Beach has the regional accreditation that is necessary for students who need financial aid. This comes from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and also allows students to transfer credits to and from other colleges in the CSU system and other schools across the country. Some of the university’s programs have other types of accreditation too, including those that come from the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), Council on Education for Public Health (COEP) and National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

California State University – Long Beach Application Requirements

With an undergrad acceptance rate of less than 32%, Cal State Long Beach is a highly selective public university. The university awards students a ranking based on the information they share, including their test scores and grade point averages. It will only accept those who have a minimum ranking, which differs between California residents and nonresidents. Students applying to select programs may need to submit a tape of their work, audition for a spot or have transcripts that show they took higher level math and science classes in high school. Prospective undergrads will submit the CSU application and their standardized test scores. The university may contact students and request additional information or documents.

Graduate students must submit their applications by the program’s deadline, which is usually around the middle of April through the beginning of June. Those who need help can contact the department head and work with an academic counselor. The basic requirements for graduate students include having a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college and having an undergrad GPA of 2.5 or higher. Some programs may require that students have a higher GPA. Students may also need to provide transcripts from their colleges, contact information for references, letters of merit and/or writing samples that demonstrate some of their writing skills.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Part-time students attending Cal State Long Beach pay $1,665 per credit hour to take up to six credits of courses at the undergrad level and $2,082 to take the same number of credits at the graduate level. Students also pay more than $300 a semester in miscellaneous fees. Nonresidents also pay $396 per credit hour in additional fees. Some graduate programs charge higher rates. Anyone who takes seven or more credit hours is a full-time student. He or she will pay $2,871 per credit hour as an undergrad and $3,588 per credit hour as a graduate student. Nonresidents pay the same $396 per credit hour fee to take a full course load.

Cal State Long Beach seeks out students who it thinks will do well based on their athletic performances and other skills. Those students qualify for scholarships that cover their room and board and tuition. Students can also get academic scholarships based on their individual merit. Both federal and state financial aid is available too but only goes to those who demonstrate need on the FAFSA. Any student attending California State University – Long Beach can use financial aid to enroll in its degree programs.