CalState’s Super Sunday Recruiting Program Will Visit 100 Black Churches Throughout California During February

The California State University system is in the midst of a budget crisis which has forced an increase of 32 percent in student fees. Obviously, this increase will have a serious disproportionate effect on the system’s 25,000 black students, many of whom come from low-income families.

Despite the budget cuts and tuition rate hikes, the university system is not giving up on its efforts to maintain racial diversity. Throughout the month of February, administrators at CalState, including trustees and campus presidents, are visiting 100 churches with predominantly black congregations throughout the state. The effort is designed to help families prepare students for college and to recruit them to a CalState campus.

The “Super Sunday” program is now in its fifth year but has been expanded significantly this year to several cities that were not included in the past such as Fresno, Santa Ana, Corona, and Oxnard. Since the program began, the number of African Americans applying for admission to a CalState campus has increased by 78 percent. Black enrollments have increased by 20 percent from 2004 to 2008.

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