A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
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Former names | Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences (1947–1964) California State College at Los Angeles (1964–1972) |
|---|---|
| Motto | Vox Veritas Vita (Latin) |
Motto in English | "Voice Truth Life" – Speak the truth as a way of life |
| Type | Public university |
| Established | 1947[1] |
Parent institution | California State University |
| Accreditation | WSCUC |
Academic affiliations | |
| Endowment | $58.11 million (2022-23)[2] |
| President | William A. Covino[3] |
| Provost | José A. Gómez[4] |
Academic staff | 1,031 |
| Students | 24,673 (Fall 2023)[5] |
| Undergraduates | 21,336 (Fall 2023)[5] |
| Postgraduates | 3,337 (Fall 2023)[5] |
| Location | , , United States 34°04′00″N 118°10′04″W / 34.06667°N 118.16778°W |
| Campus | Large city, 175 acres (71 ha) |
| Other campuses | Alhambra |
| Newspaper | University Times |
| Colors | Black and gold |
| Nickname | Golden Eagles |
Sporting affiliations | |
| Mascot | Eddie the Golden Eagle |
| Website | www |
 | |
California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. 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 (in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles), Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and Doctor of Audiology. It also offers 22 teaching credentials.[6][7]
Cal State LA had a student body of 26,342 as of Fall 2023, which includes 22,566 undergraduates, primarily from the greater Los Angeles area, and 3,776 graduate students.[5] It is organized into 9 colleges that house a total of 4 schools and approximately 50 academic departments, divisions, and interdisciplinary programs.[8] 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.[9] Cal State LA is a Hispanic-serving institution and is eligible to be designated as an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander serving institution (AANAPISI).
The 175-acre (71 ha) 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 (LACHSA), 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.[11][12][13][14] 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 (Rosa californica) that grew near the ranch home along the creek. The Tongva Indians named this area, Ochuunga (Place of Roses).[15] 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). 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[16] 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.[17][16] Howard S. 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 the then Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson ran him out of Chavez Ravine so that he could lure the Dodger baseball team to Los Angeles. The college opened in its new location in 1958, Howard S. McDonald becomes first full-time president.[18] When McDonald retired in 1962, seven academic buildings on the new campus were completed and an eighth structure (North Hall, later named King Hall) was nearing completion. North Hall opened in September 1962.[16]
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 (now known as California State University, Northridge).[19] 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, 5 miles (8 km) east of the Civic Center.[20]
In 1957, the first Cal State LA time capsule is sealed in corner of Administration building (now Student Affairs) and a second Time capsule was buried during the Cal State LA 50th anniversary celebration September 1998.
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 (now California State University) 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" (CSCLA), and in 1968 to "California State College, Los Angeles", when it became part of the California State College (CSC) system. In 1972, CSCLA was awarded university status and was renamed California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA).[21]
In 1968, Cal State LA established the nation's first Chicano Studies department.[22]
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 news director for KMEX-DT 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.[23]
A Statue of Confucius, a gift of the Republic of China in Taiwan, was dedicated June 1987. The statue was moved to a new campus location in summer 2005. Its home is now on the grassy area, south of the State Playhouse.
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.[24]
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.[25]
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.[26]
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.[27]
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. Patricia 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 Billie Jean King was in school at Cal State LA, she had already won Wimbledon.[28]
University presidents
| Presidents of Cal State LA | Years as president | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | P. Victor Peterson | 1947–49 |
| 2 | Howard S. McDonald | 1949–62 |
| 3 | Albert D. Graves | 1962–63 |
| 4 | Franklyn A. Johnson | 1963–65 |
| 5 | John A. Greenlee | 1965–79 |
| 6 | James M. Rosser | 1979–2013 |
| 7 | William A. Covino[29] | 2013–2023 |
| 8 | Berenecea Johnson Eanes[30] | 2024–Present |
Campus life and cost of university
As of the fall of 2016, Cal State LA switched over from the quarter to the semester system. Tuition and fees for in-state is $6,745, $17,245 for out-of-state and room and board $11,723 as of the 2018–2019 academic year with a student/faculty ratio of 25:1. Classes are scheduled Monday through Saturday from 7 am until 10 pm.
Near the edge of the city of Los Angeles, adjacent to the western San Gabriel Valley cities of Alhambra and Monterey Park, the campus affords views of the mountains to the north, the San Gabriel Valley to the east, metropolitan Los Angeles to the west, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Catalina Island to the south.
The Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex, the campus' northern gateway, was dedicated in 1994. An architectural tour-de-force, the buildings house a 1,100-seat theater, a fine art gallery and the black box Intimate Theater, completed in 2004.
Construction on a $30 million University-Student Union (U-SU) building began in 2005; it opened in January 2009. The facility offers a place for students and faculty to congregate and interact before or after class. It replaced the 1975 U-SU building that was closed in 2004 due to seismic concerns. The U-SU offers a theater, a fitness center, and an array of other services dedicated to the student body. Its meeting rooms connect to those of The Golden Eagle building via a third floor bridge. The Golden Eagle includes a food court, a Barnes & Noble-operated bookstore and major conference facilities. The university food court is owned by the Coca-Cola Company, offering a selection of fast food restaurants that include El Pollo Loco, Carl's Jr., The Spot, and Juice It Up. The U-SU facility houses additional fast food options.
Cal State LA is one of only eight institutions in North and South America selected as a Rockefeller Foundation humanities fellowship residency site.[31]
As of fall 2018 Cal State LA has the second largest enrollment percentage of Mexican Americans and Other Latino Americans that are not Mexican-American in the Cal State University system.[32] Other Latinos Americans having heritage from Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
The HBO show Silicon Valley used the face of the U-SU as the building for the Hooli company.[33]