Cal State Long Beach Acceptance Rate – 2025
October 31, 2025
Just off the shores of Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, California, you鈥檒l find California State University Long Beach (CSULB). With incredible access to the Pacific coast, outstanding minimalist architecture, and access to the nature of Southern California, it鈥檚 easy to see why Cal State Long Beach is among the most applied-to campuses in the California State system (continue for the Cal State Long Beach Acceptance Rate).
The 322-acre campus is home to nearly 36,000 undergraduate students and more than 4,000 graduate students, as of the fall of 2024. The campus is also the second largest in the California State University system. Long Beach is home to the School of Art at CSULB, which is one of the largest publicly funded Schools of Art in the United States. Long Beach was also the first in the CSU system to offer the MFA鈥擬aster of Fine Arts鈥攄egree.
The university is ranked as an R2 (high research activity), university, in recognition of its transition from a masters-level comprehensive institution to an institution that conducts a significant amount of research and that confers doctoral degrees.
That high level of research means undergraduates also stand to benefit from research opportunities, the potential to work with faculty on projects, and the atmosphere of a high level of discourse on campus.
So what does it take to get accepted at CSULB? In this article, we鈥檒l show you:
- CSULB Tuition
- Student Financial Aid
- Acceptance Rates
- GPA Requirements
- Applicant Distribution by College
- Program Rankings
- Notable Alumni
- And more!
All tuition and admissions data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics database.
Tuition
Typical tuition and required fees for all full-time students at California State University Long Beach breaks down like this (per year):
- In-state, undergraduates: $8,342
- Out-of-state, undergraduates: $18,998
- In-state, graduates: $9,956
- Out-of-state, graduates: $17,946
Student Financial Aid
A large majority of students at CSULB receive some kind of financial aid, and that financial aid helps to drastically assist with the average net cost of attendance. Financial aid creates an average net price of attendance that is just a little bit more than in-state tuition, meaning that out-of-state students might not take as big of a hit as you might expect.
How does financial aid breakdown, on average, at CSULB? For the 2022鈥2023 academic year, the percentages for financial aid looked like this:
- 73% of degree-seeking undergraduate students receive some sort of grant or scholarship
- 82% of degree-seeking undergraduate students receive any type of financial aid
- 50% receive Pell grants, which are federally funded grants that don鈥檛 have to be paid back
- 24% receive federal student loans
- 72% receive state or local grants and scholarships
- 50% receive institutional grants and scholarships
- Only 1% of students are taking out private student loans, which tend to be more restrictive than federal student loans in terms of terms of paying them back.
CSULB Average Net Price
With all of that financial aid in consideration, the average net price for students has stayed between $9,000鈥10,000 in recent years. Here鈥檚 how the net price has changed over time at CSULB:
| 2020鈥21 | 2021鈥22 | 2022鈥23 | |
| Average Net Price | $9,171 | $9,346 | $9,731 |
Students who sit in the lowest income bracket, under $30,000, paid just $5,477 as their average net price in the 2022鈥23 academic year.
By contrast, students whose family income was $110,001 and more paid $18,575 for their average net price in the same academic year.
Cal State Long Beach Acceptance Rate
For the Class of 2028, 83,971 students applied, of which CSULB accepted 38,854. This means that CSULB’s admit rate was 46%. For context, let鈥檚 see how this acceptance rate compares to previous admission cycles:
| Applicants | Admits | Acceptance Rate | |
| Class of 2027 | 79,681 | 37,547 | 47% |
| Class of 2026 | 74,741 | 29,851 | 40% |
| Class of 2025 | 67,122 | 31,448 | 46% |
In-State vs. Out-of-State Cal State Long Beach Attendance Rate
The student population at CSULB leans very heavily in-state. The robust California State system is one that students who live in California want to take advantage of鈥攁nd rightly so.
For the fall of 2024, the Class of 2028 was almost entirely California. By percentage, there were:
- In-state students: 96.9%
- Out-of-state students: 1.5%
- International students: 1.6%
Don鈥檛 let this dissuade you if you鈥檙e thinking about CSULB as an out-of-state or international student. Just know that it will likely be more competitive for you than it would be for the vast majority of your in-state peers at that institution.
GPA
Data from CSULB itself shows that the school does have a pretty competitive average high school GPA for its incoming admitted and enrolled students. The average GPA actually drops slightly between the admitted and enrolled student categories, which means that some of the most competitive students are taking admissions to, perhaps, more competitive or elite institutions.
What do those average GPAs look like? Here鈥檚 the breakdown for the last several years, based on CSULB鈥檚 publicly available admissions data.
Admitted Students Average GPA
| Term | Average High School GPA |
| Fall 2020 | 3.92 |
| Fall 2021 | 3.92 |
| Fall 2022 | 4.00 |
| Fall 2023 | 3.95 |
| Fall 2024 | 3.93 |
Enrolled Students Average GPA
| Term | Average High School GPA |
| Fall 2020 | 3.68 |
| Fall 2021 | 3.70 |
| Fall 2022 | 3.74 |
| Fall 2023 | 3.72 |
| Fall 2024 | 3.67 |
Admission Trends
Based on the average GPA of admitted students over time, we can see that CSULB is staying relatively consistent with its level of competitiveness among applicants. If anything, GPAs took a slight dip after the pandemic, but that could be an indicator of external factors rather than a lack of competitiveness at the admissions level.
CSULB has waived the requirement for standardized tests like the SAT or ACT for admissions. This is reflected in the overall data for admitted students: the scores started to dip after the tests became optional in admissions. The data isn鈥檛 particularly helpful in that way, so we鈥檙e choosing to omit it here, though it is also publicly available.
With so many students coming from in-state and the GPA staying fairly consistent in the last few years, it鈥檚 clear to see that many students from across the academic spectrum in the state of California are flocking to CSULB. The more competitive you are, the better off you鈥檙e going to be in terms of admissions鈥攁s is the case with any school.
Again, out-of-state students do face an uphill battle here. The California State University system prioritizes admitting in-state students. The CSU system uses three factors when determining admissions:
- The specific series of high school courses completed
- Grades in those courses
- Completion of high school
Out-of-state students are assessed based on the same factors, but, according to the CSU system itself, out-of-state students do need a higher grade point average to be admitted. California residents do receive priority over non-Californians whenever admission space is limited.
Program Rankings
国产第一福利影院草草 ranked CSULB as #3 in the list of the top CSU schools. We put them at #3 because of the school鈥檚 impact on social mobility: it helps students climb the socio-economic ladder to put them in a better place than where they were when they came to school. Mid-career salaries are also high for CSULB alumni. The mid-career average salary for CSULB alumni is $126,000.
For the incoming class in the fall of 2024, students chose to apply for the following programs in the following percentages:
- Health and Human Services: 22.21%
- Engineering: 18.01%
- Liberal Arts: 16.65%
- Business: 14.26%
- Natural Sciences and Mathematics: 13.76%
- The Arts: 8.05%
- University Programs: 6.36%
- Education: 0.68%
These majors track with larger national trends about the most popular and competitive majors. CSULB鈥檚 nursing major has been ranked by RNcareers.org. That bodes well for adjacent programs in the Health and Human Services department, as well.
In 2021, The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education ranked CSULB 8th in the nation for Campus Diversity. This ranking was a result of the number of Pell Grant recipients, the racial and ethnic makeup of the students and faculty on campus, and the number of students who come from outside the United States.
Notable Alumni
There are so many notable alumni who have attended or graduated CSULB. As you might imagine, with a world-renowned arts program and access to Los Angeles, a lot of those notable alumni are famous celebrities. We鈥檒l give you a quick snapshot of different folks who have called CSULB their home, knowing that this is not a comprehensive list of all the famous alumni. Is your hero on the list? Maybe CSULB is the right place for you!
- Guy Bee, director of the show 贰搁听
- Chris Carter, creator and producer of the 齿-贵颈濒别蝉听
- Steve Martin, actor and comedian
- Steve Spielberg, filmmaker
- Jessica Williams, comedian and correspondent on The Daily Show
- Linda Woolverton, screenwriter, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King
- Joon Park, singer and entertainer, member of South Korean group g.o.d.
- Richard and Karen Carpenter, The Carpenters, famous pop duo
- Bill Medley, half of The Righteous Brothers
- Bradley Nowell, lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Sublime
- John Patitucci, Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist
- Robert Garcia, U.S. Congressman and former mayor of Long Beach
- Tim Leslie, California State Senator
- Jenny Oropeza, California State Senator
- Curt Pringle, Speaker of the California State Assembly and Mayor of Anaheim
- Dana Rohrabacher, United States Congressman
- Pat McCormick, four-time Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics
- Mark O鈥橫eara, champion golfer
- Tim Shaw, Olympic silver medalist in water polo
There are a ton of famous football, baseball, and basketball players, as well as other sports. So many faculty members are world-renowned. As you research colleges, it is very much worth the work to research who is part of the faculty in your chosen field of study. Before you apply, check out what it is they research, and how your interests might align with the interests of those faculty members. Those points of interest and intersection can become a part of your college essays as you look forward to submitting your application at CSULB.
Cal State Long Beach Acceptance Rate – Additional Resources
Ready to start working on your applications? Consider checking out the following:
- Should You Start College Applications in the Summer?
- What is Demonstrated Interest?
- Do Colleges Look at Social Media?
- College Fair Advice for High School Students
- How to Complete the Common App Activities List
- Common App Essay Prompts
- 25 Inspiring College Essay Topic Ideas
