LONG BEACH - In an article published by U.S. News & World Report, Cal State Long Beach was recognized as one of the top 10 colleges in the nation receiving the most applications from first-time freshmen out of 1,311 schools that reported application data in the publication's annual survey.Using data from fall 2010 admissions, CSULB ranked No. 6 in the nation with 47,673 first-time freshman applications. Additionally, the Long Beach campus was the only regional university in the top 10. The other nine were all national universities, including No. 1 UCLA (57,670 applications), No. 2 St. John's University (54,871) and No. 3 UC Berkeley (50,393). "Ranking fifth in the nation in freshman applications is a clear indication of the outstanding reputation Cal State Long Beach has and demonstrates the great value that parents and students place in a CSULB education," said CSULB president F. King Alexander. "Both that reputation and perceived value are a direct result of having so many faculty and staff dedicated to student success." The article was published as part of a series called the U.S. News Short List. Separate from its overall rankings, the Short List is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. The 10 colleges that received the most applications averaged 48,849, which is more than eight times larger than the national average. Among the top 10 universities on the list, seven are in California. Of the 1,311 schools that reported application data to U.S. News & World Report, the average college received 5,948 applications for fall 2010 admissions - an increase of more than 400 applications from the year before. Among the schools that received the most applications, 32 schools received more than 30,000; 12 schools received more than 40,000; and three schools received more than 50,000 applications for fall 2010 freshman admissions. U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for its 2011 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind.

********** Published: October 20, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 27