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San Jose State University announces record-setting enrollment
San Jose State is kicking off the school year with record-setting enrollment, up 8-percent from last year. 40,000 students are coming to campus, by far the most in the schools history.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - San Jose State is kicking off the school year with record-setting enrollment, up 8% from last year. 40,000 students are coming to campus, by far the most in the school's history.
"It's very packed everywhere I go," says first-year student Anita Ongolea.
For students, the draw is everything from the Silicon Valley location, to hands-on training in fields like AI. Plus, positive national press and rankings are luring in students from outside the Bay Area.
"A lot of tech companies, from what I've heard, they directly recruit from San Jose State," says sophomore Aaditya Avadhani.
It's momentum city officials want to foster.
"The university is leaning in in a big way and we're there to partner with them. It's an amazing engine of economic mobility," says San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
The timing of this boom is fortunate, according to school officials. Statewide, the CSU system is dealing with 3% budget cuts. But, they say, money is being diverted from schools which aren't meeting their enrollment goals, (of which there are many), to those schools that are.
And San Jose State says that means they are buffered from the worst of the impact.
"There are other places that are still catching up. We are not catching up to the future... we're part of it," says university president, Cynthia Teniente-Matson.
Of course, the university needs to catch up in terms of infrastructure.
Last year, the Spartan Village on the Paseo added 700 beds. San Jose State's new master plan aims to add 1500 more. Plus, they'll build a welcome center, classrooms, and a massive dining hall. They're also working on transportation and parking issues.
"I think it's really important that we're finding ways to make sure we can accommodate for these students," says Katelyn Gambarin, associated students president.
Until then, students say the parking lots, walkways, and certainly classrooms will be crowded.
"This is the first time in my life I've had a class over 200. I had a 300-person chem lecture. That was crazy," says Avadhani.
And SJSU isn't just seeing growth on campus, they're seeing it online as well. Enrollment through SJSU Online is up 35 percent from last year.
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