Your CSU Eligibility Index (EI) is the combination of your high school grade point average and your score on either the ACT or the SAT. The CSU uses only the SAT mathematics and critical reading scores in its admission eligibility equation. The SAT or ACT writing score is not currently used by CSU campuses.
Your grade point average is based on grades earned in courses taken during your final three years of high school that satisfy college preparatory A-G subject requirements, with bonus points for approved honors courses. Up to eight semesters of honors courses taken in the last two years of high school, including up to two approved courses taken in the tenth grade, can be accepted. Each unit of A in an honors course will receive a total of 5 points; B, 4 points; and C, 3 points.
You can calculate your EI by multiplying your grade point average by 800 and adding your total score on the mathematics and critical reading portions of the SAT. If you took the ACT, multiply your grade point average by 200 and add ten times your ACT composite score. If you are a California high school graduate (or a resident of California for tuition purposes), you need a minimum index of 2900 using the SAT I or 694 using the ACT. The CSU Eligibility Index Table for California High School Graduates or Residents of California illustrates several combinations of required test scores and averages.
If you have neither graduated from a California high school nor qualify as a resident of California for tuition purposes, you need a minimum index of 3502 using the SAT I or 842 using the ACT. The CSU Eligibility Index Table for Nonresidents or Nongraduates of California High Schools illustrates several combinations of required test scores and averages. Graduates of secondary schools in foreign countries must be judged to have academic preparation and abilities equivalent to applicants eligible under this section.
When your grade point average is 3.00 or above (3.61 for nonresidents), you are not required to submit test scores. However, all applicants for admission are urged to take the SAT I or ACT because campuses use these test results for advising and placement purposes and may require them for admission to impacted majors or programs. Impacted CSU campuses usually require SAT or ACT scores of all applicants for freshman admission.
You will qualify for regular admission when the university verifies that you have graduated and received a diploma from high school, have a qualifiable minimum eligibility index, have completed the comprehensive pattern of college preparatory A-G subjects, and, if applying to an impacted program, have met all supplementary criteria.
Note: Adopted at the California State University system level and mandated for inclusion in all CSU campus catalogs , gray-colored text applies to all 23 campuses in the system. Black text pertains uniquely to CSUMB.