California State University, Los Angeles


California State University, Los Angeles is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 master's degree programs, and 4 doctoral degrees: the Doctor of Philosophy in special education, Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and Doctor of Audiology. It also offers 22 teaching credentials.
Cal State LA had a student body of 22,740 as of Fall 2024, which includes 19,350 undergraduates, primarily from the Greater Los Angeles area, and 3,390 graduate students. It is organized into 9 colleges that house a total of 4 schools and approximately 50 academic departments, divisions, and interdisciplinary programs. The university's forensic science program is one of the oldest in the nation. The Early Entrance Program in the Honors College for gifted students as young as 12 is the only one of its kind in the United States in promoting a direct transitional scheme from middle and high school to college without intermediary remedial education. Cal State LA is a Hispanic-serving institution and is eligible to be designated as an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander serving institution.
The hilltop campus core is home to the nation's first Charter College of Education, the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, the Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility, and the Luckman Fine Arts Complex.
It is also home to two high schools: the Marc and Eva Stern Math and Science School and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, the only arts high school in Los Angeles that allows students from any district within Los Angeles County to attend.

History

First half of 20th century

The university is located on the site of one of California's 36 original adobes, built in 1776 by Franciscan missionaries and destroyed by fire in 1908. When the Spanish Franciscans founded the San Gabriel Mission in 1771, they dubbed the small river El Rio Rosa de Castillo. These lands once were part of a Mexican land grant known as Rancho Rosa Castilla. Juan Batista Batz, a Basque rancher from northern Spain and his wife, Catalina settled here in the 1852. Batz used the land for farming and intensive sheep ranching. The inspiration for the name of the ranch, according to local historians, was the abundant amount of native wild Wood roses that grew near the ranch home along the creek. The Tongva Indians named this area, Ochuunga. The main drive through the campus is known as Paseo Rancho Castilla, in acknowledgment of the university's historic heritage.
Cal State LA was founded on July 2, 1947, by an act of the California legislature and opened for classes as Los Angeles State College on the campus of Los Angeles City College. LACC is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard, the former campus of UCLA and originally a farm outside Los Angeles. As president of LACC, P. Victor Peterson became the acting president of the state college. Since the college had opened in September, 1947, with 136 students, it had grown in two years to over 2,000 students. Most were studying under the GI Bill, which had been largely responsible for establishment of the college. The first class of seven students graduated in 1948.
In 1949, when Howard S. McDonald became president of both Los Angeles State College and Los Angeles City College, the state college upper division classes were being taught in borrowed spaces on the City College campus by mostly part-time faculty. He hired administrators to help him formally organize the colleges. Then he found a site within Los Angeles to house the new "Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences," which replaced the Los Angeles State College also in 1949 after being reconstituted by the Legislature. McDonald enjoyed telling how some influential supporters of the University of Southern California opposed his selection of a piece of land in Baldwin Hills, and how then-Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson ran him out of Chavez Ravine so that he could lure the Dodgers baseball team to Los Angeles.

Second half of 20th century

In 1952, the state proposed a new satellite campus for Cal State LA, at the time known as Los Angeles State College, and in July 1958, the campus separated from Cal State LA and was renamed San Fernando Valley State College. The first master's degrees were awarded in 1952.
Since 1954, Cal State LA has been accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The university's credential programs are approved by the Commission for Teacher Credentialing Committee on Accreditation.
In 1955, officials broke ground on the current location, dubbed the Ramona site at the time. The college then moved to its present campus in the northeastern section of the City of Los Angeles, east of the Civic Center. The college opened in its new location in 1958, with McDonald becoming the first full-time president. When McDonald retired in 1962, seven academic buildings on the new campus were completed and an eighth structure was nearing completion. North Hall opened in September 1962.
In 1962, the college welcomed its third president Albert D. Graves who was vice president of Academic Affairs of LASCAAS. The college also entered into its first contract to prepare students for the United States Peace Corps. The first group of 65 volunteers was trained for service in the Dominican Republic in the areas of teacher training, music teacher training and urban community action. The first Commencement at new site takes place in June 1963.
On December 6, 1963, the California State College Board of Trustees named the library after the late 35th president of the United States John F. Kennedy. An edifice plaque was unveiled during the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library naming ceremony on February 12, 1964, and in November 1969 the library North Wing is dedicated.
In 1964, the Board of Trustees of the California State Colleges changed the name of the college to the "California State College at Los Angeles", and in 1968 to "California State College, Los Angeles", when it became part of the California State College system. In 1972, CSCLA was awarded university status and was renamed California State University, Los Angeles.
In 1968, Cal State LA established the nation's first Chicano Studies department.
In fall 1970, the South Tower and South Hall were completed and opened. July 1976 the CSU Board of Trustees approved the renaming of South Tower to Simpson Tower, in memory of Floyd R. Simpson, first dean of the School of Business and Economics. South Hall was renamed Salazar Hall in memory of slain Los Angeles Times journalist and KMEX-DT news director Ruben Salazar.
The original mascot of the school was the Diablo. In 1980, new university president James Rosser adopted a new mascot, Eddie the golden eagle, designed to be more reflective of the campus' highly diverse community. The theme was extended to student facilities such as the student union and bookstore.
In 1993, the California State University Chancellor and Trustees approved development of Cal State LA's Charter College of Education, creating the first such college of higher education in the nation.
In October 1998, the Center for Environmental Analysis, first of its kind funded by the National Science Foundation on the West Coast, opened on campus.

21st century

In September 2000, Governor of California Gray Davis chose the Cal State LA campus to hold a press conference at which he signed the historic bills expanding the Cal Grant program.
Cal State LA departments of Social Work and Nursing, located within the university's College of Health and Human Services, were granted the status of School in Winter 2002.
Cal State LA Downtown is a satellite campus opened in January 2016. Programs are provided through the university's College of Professional & Global Education.
Naming of the Rongxiang Xu College of Health and Human Services took place during the university's 69th Commencement on June 11, 2016. The naming recognized the largest gift in the university's history and named in honor of the late Dr. Rongxiang Xu, who was a surgeon and expert in regenerative medicine.
The Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing was dedicated as the first named school at Cal State L.A. in April 2018. Chin taught nursing at the university, later serving as director and, upon her retirement, professor emerita.
A statue of Cal State LA alumna and world champion tennis legend Billie Jean King was installed on the grassy area in front of the Physical Education building. When King was in school at Cal State LA, she had already won Wimbledon.

University presidents

The following persons served as president of Cal State LA:
ImagePresidentTerm startTerm endNotes
1P. Victor Peterson1947October 31, 1949
2Howard S. McDonaldNovember 1, 1949August 30, 1962
3Albert D. GravesSeptember 1, 1962September 30, 1963acting
4Franklyn A. JohnsonOctober 1, 1963November 10, 1965
actingJohn A. GreenleeNovember 11, 1965May 24, 1966
5John A. GreenleeMay 24, 1966August 30, 1979
6James M. RosserSeptember 1, 1979August 30, 2013
7William A. CovinoSeptember 1, 2013June 30, 2023
interimLeroy M. MorishitaJuly 31, 2023January 7, 2024
8Berenecea Johnson EanesJanuary 8, 2024present