The fall semester was plagued with record-high fees, fewer instruction days and required courses bursting at the seams with students. But according to SF State administrators, the spring semester won't bring with it more fees or many fewer classes.
"We plan to offer approximately the same number of sessions in spring as we did in fall -- about 3,164. Given that there are no spring admissions, we anticipate about 1,500 fewer students, so there should be less competition for courses," said SF State spokesperson Ellen Griffin.
SF State was declared impacted last year, which meant that fewer students would be admitted to the University and priority would be given to students entering from six Bay Area counties.
Within SF State, students wishing to enter certain majors have also had to navigate the six impacted majors.
"Quality of instruction will be maintained by our experienced, talented staff members. The problem is that 40,000 fewer students will have access to the education they need to be qualified for the jobs of the future," said Jo Volkert, vice president of enrollment management at SF State.
Paul Sherwin, dean of the Humanities College, said that they are adding 25-30 classes in the spring. The college was concerned that they would cut 100 classes this year but they only lost 30.
Any loss in the College of Humanities is a concern because it offers basic subject courses that, if reduced, could throw off thousands of students on the path to graduation.
The College of Humanities receives additional funding to help secure as many of the basic subject courses as possible while other subjects see slightly harsher reductions.

UPS AND DOWNS
While all departments are feeling the pinch, one graduate program with big concerns over cuts is the Education Credential program.
The state has required that the program be finished in a single year. If a student is unable to finish the classes in that period, they must start over.
"Courses we offer in the graduate program can't just be cut, they are all necessary," said Jacob Perea, dean of the College of Education.
Up to this point, classes cut from the graduate program have been able to be substituted with another required course. Perea has expressed that if more classes are cut, the college may need to ask the state to change the program to allow students more time.
Other colleges on campus are feeling less of the crunch thanks to outside funding and a robust department that is still growing.
"We have the largest major in the University and a strong graduate program with room to grow," said Nancy Hayes, dean of the College of Business.
While the college has lost some of its courses and raised MBA fees, it has remained flexible to assist students in getting through the program without many hiccups.
The College of Business also has an Executive MBA program that is completely self-funded, which could work as a model to other colleges, according to Sherwin.
While no dramatic program changes have been decided on, many administrators agree that cuts can't keep being made at the rate that they have been without alternate revenues being set up to take their place.
Like many people statewide, Volkert is concerned about how long the CSUs can reduce its services before it makes a lasting impact on the state as a whole.
"If access to a college education is reduced for a prolonged period of time, the economy of California will suffer in the long-run," said Volkert.

2010 APPLICATION PERIOD ENDS
The California State University system was flooded with applicants for next fall, receiving 609,000 undergraduate applications between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30 of this year. This priority application period broke all previous records for the CSU system, according to the CSU Public Affairs Office. On the final day to apply, 73,680 people used the CSUmentor.edu website in hopes of being accepted by one or more of the universities.
Overall, 28 percent more applications came through during the priority period. Upper division transfer applications were up by 87 percent (195,113 total).
While no final assessment has announced how many of the applicants will be admitted, nearly two-thirds of last year's applications were green-lit. Estimates for this year are expected to be significantly less.
This onslaught of prospective students has started just as the CSU system has pledged to reduce enrollment of students by 40,000.
Currently, 17 of the 23 campuses are not accepting first-time freshmen applications and 15 campuses are not accepting transfer students for the year.

SUMMER COURSES
To bypass costs, SF State will offer summer courses through the College of Extended Learning rather than by SF State this year.
"This summer will be a great opportunity for you to make up for critically needed courses you might not have been able to take in the fall or spring and get back on track. We are considering moving summer session to self-support, which will enable us to offer a fuller program," said President Robert A. Corrigan of SF State.
These self-support learning programs are often considered a great way catch up on hard-to-add classes in the fall or spring, but CEL classes cost more per unit and financial aid is usually not applicable for it.
For undergraduate courses in summer 2010 the cost is $289 per unit while graduate courses will be $329 per unit.
"One advantage of this is that we don't have a limited budget for the summer. As long as we can find instructors to teach and as long as there is student demand, we should be able to offer classes to meet the student demand," said the Associate Vice President of Academic Resources, John Kim.
Griffin said that the school is still working on the possibility of making financial aid available over the summer.