Campus Profile

Vision Driven since being founded in 1994, CSUMB provides nearly 4,000 students with a unique combination of features that generate powerful learning.

We place primary emphasis on student learning. Faculty members communicate targeted learning outcomes in advance, and hold themselves accountable for teaching to help you reach them. Instruction centers on applied, active, project-based study. Every degree program builds interdisciplinary knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that empower you to succeed personally and professionally. With the help of faculty advisors, you personalize your education by developing an Individual Learning Plan that culminates in a Capstone project displaying your cumulative learning. Along the way our service learning requirement engages you with community organizations to create a powerful combination of contribution and learning, and creative partnerships with other organizations and academic institutions provide internships, off-campus study, and more.

Educating and serving the diverse population of California and its immediate Tri-County region with particular emphasis on higher education access for underserved populations, our campus community honors every individual through commitment to rich diversity, and we promote multicultural and global perspectives through our curriculum and campus life. Offering affordable residence halls and apartments, CSUMB residential life envelops all students in learning beyond the classroom. Academic and recreation programs create outdoor connections capitalizing on the region’s amazing natural beauty and recreational opportunities. Quality facilities and sophisticated technologies support effective learning, interaction, and operations.

Overall, CSUMB provides you with small college attention and service at affordable public university prices.

Academic Profile

Praising CSUMB for placing students at the heart of the enterprise, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation team reported in 2003 that “CSUMB is a product of scholarship at its best—rigorous, ethical, socially responsible, and respectful of the values and strengths of a diverse group of people who have adopted a common vision and sense of purpose.”

Our undergraduate majors cover nearly 100 academic fields as concentrations and incorporated areas of study. We also offer dozens of minors, master’s degrees, and teaching credentials. This catalog provides details on all of these offerings.

Student Life

In a region of California famous worldwide for its productivity and beauty, CSUMB geographically and intellectually connects the Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay communities surrounding it.

CSUMB has transformed part of the former Fort Ord army base into a 1,387-acre residential campus featuring impressive new and refurbished facilities. Ample campus housing includes apartments, suites, and residence halls. Campus growth will continue in the next few years, with a thoughtful master plan [CSUMB.EDU/masterplan] guiding construction of several new facilities such as the $64-million Tanimura & Antle Family Memorial Library [CSUMB.EDU/library].

Campus activities abound. Intercollegiate athletics (NCAA Division II), intramural and club sports, boating education, outdoor recreation, athletic facilities, hiking and cycling trails, and disc golf courses promote competition and fitness. Student organizations offer a variety of political, musical, academic, special interest, social, and socially conscious activities. Musical groups, plays, and open mikes provide outlets for performers. And guest writers, entertainers, musicians, politicians, educators, and others fill evenings and minds.

Minutes away, the Monterey Peninsula offers the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row, Carmel, Pebble Beach, 17-mile drive, and much more. The bay offers sailing, scuba, surfing, and kayaking, while the surrounding land invites sunning, cycling, hiking, and camping.