After one semester of college, California State University Northridge (CSUN) freshman Eric Diaz had to take this spring semester off, but not by choice. He was not able to get the classes he needed due to over-enrollment and budget cuts.

“I wasn’t necessarily dropped but I did have to take off a semester because I was unable to get the required amount of credits for financial aid,” said Diaz, who is also a Daniel Pearl Magnet High School   (DPMHS) alumnus who graduated in 2011.

Due to state budget cuts and over-enrollment, CSUN had to either drop students or face fines. Several DPMHS alumni attend CSUN, which is the closest four-year university.

The Daily Sundial, the school paper for CSUN, has reported a $500 million cut in state funding, which is an 18 percent reduction, according to  Governor Jerry Brown’s budget proposal.

Many students at CSUN are going through the same problem of long waiting lists, with minimal seats available in the class and inability to receive the credits they need to graduate.

“I had this problem in the first place because CSUN had over enrolled and was unable to fit the students in classes,” Diaz said. “When trying to add classes, they told us that only graduating seniors would have a chance.”

On the CSUN Strategic Enrollment Management plan, it has been reported that “ CSUN, like most CSU campuses, enjoyed robust enrollment growth during this period with enrollment growing by 30% over the past 10 years and FTES [Full-Time Equivalent Students] enrollment growing by 38%.” This means more students and more scheduling problems. 

“Even if you had an enrollment number from the professor, you still couldn’t be added to the class, so everyone was freaking out,” said Elizabeth Hernandez, sophomore at CSUN and a DPMHS alumna who graduated in 2010.