Governor Gavin Newsom released a shocking budget cut from state funding on January 3, 2025, for both the UC and CSU education systems for the upcoming 2025-2026 school year. This reflects a trend of CSU campuses across the state cutting faculty, important programs, and classes to cope with the money loss.

Fullerton’s own, California State University Fullerton (CSUF) is expected to fare better than most, due to increased enrollment over the recent years. In the 2023-2024 school year, CSUF saw a 4% enrollment growth (EdSource). The maintenance of these numbers is not only likely to save jobs, but may also cause CSU management to shift a little more funding towards CSUF. To keep enrollment numbers up, CSUF has recently instituted a new vice president of enrollment.

However, that is no guarantee of safety for the faculty at CSUF, because publicly, CSUF has not ruled out layoffs to manage budgets. “[CSUF faculty] will likely be more impacted [than CSUF students],” says one trusted associate at Cal State Fullerton. On the beneficial side of this, it’s an indication that majors and other programs at CSUF will be safe from removal or severe impact. As far as classes, the only impact officials see so far is the expansion of class sizes, which could make the teaching environments less enriching.

Faculty will not be the only ones impacted, however. Statewide, CSUs predict that many students, especially students of color, will be impacted hardest by the funding cuts. With important resources like financial aid, health care, liability and property insurance, as well as utilities stripped of important funds, this puts the state’s goal of increased graduation rates in jeopardy. Overall, CSUF’s position in a relatively small city, as well as it’s fairly high enrollment numbers will keep the college running for the foreseeable future.