California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Bakersfield on a campus, becoming the 20th school in the 23-campus California State University system. First classes were held October 1, 1970. The university offers 39 different

Bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

degrees and 17 types of Master's degrees. The university offers a Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.). As of fall 2021, there were more than 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students at either the main campus in Bakersfield or the satellite campus, Antelope Valley Center in Lancaster, California. CSU Bakersfield has more than 59,000 alumni from its four schools: Arts and Humanities; Business and Public Administration; Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering; and Social Sciences and Education. The university is primarily a commuter campus serving the city of Bakersfield. CSU Bakersfield's

petroleum geology Petroleum geology is the study of origin, occurrence, movement, accumulation, and exploration of hydrocarbon fuels. It refers to the specific set of geological disciplines that are applied to the search for hydrocarbons (oil exploration). Sedime ...

program is the only one offered by a public university west of the Rockies. The university is a Hispanic-serving institution.

History

CSUB owes its founding to the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960, which formalized the creation of the CSU system, initially as the "California State Colleges" system. The areas in the southern San Joaquin Valley had been demanding a four-year university since the 1950s. After considering several locations, including nearby Delano and parts of

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

and Tulare County, a steering committee decided on Bakersfield because it was the largest isolated metropolitan area in the United States without a four-year university at that time. Their decision was turned into a bill by Bakersfield's State Senator Walter W. Stiern, ratified by the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...

and signed into law by Governor Pat Brown. Under these rules, the school was authorized as Kern State College, in 1965, and founded as California State College, Bakersfield in 1968. First classes were held on October 1, 1970. In 1982, the California State College system became the California State University system. The school changed to its present name in 1988, when it was granted university status.

Academics

Cal State Bakersfield academics are grouped into four schools with the exception of

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

programs: * School of Arts and Humanities (A&H) * School of Business and Public Administration (BPA) * School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering (NSME) * School of Social Sciences and Education (SSE) Together, the four schools offer 39 baccalaureate degrees, 17 master's degrees, and one educational doctorate. Popular majors for undergraduates in 2018 included

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

(Management and Operations) at 19.39%, Liberal Arts and

Sciences Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

, General Studies and Humanities at 12.82% and Psychology (General) at 8.53%. While popular majors for

graduates Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

were Education (General) at 35.28%,

Social Work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

at 20.56% and Student

Counseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of co ...

and Personnel Services at 9.44%. On May 24, 2019, at the 49th annual undergraduate commencement ceremony, CSU Bakersfield awarded 2,312 bachelor's degrees, a 28% year-over-year increase and a record for the university. On May 22, 2019, 462 graduate degrees, including the university's first 12 doctoral degrees, were awarded at the annual hooding ceremony. The five most popular majors for 2019 graduates. *

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services at 20% * Liberal Arts and

, General Studies and Humanities at 14% * Psychology at 8% * Homeland Security, Law Enforcement,

Firefighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...

and Related Protective Services at 7% * Social Sciences at 7%

Research

The Office of Grants, Research, and Sponsored Programs (GRASP) provides administrative support for student and faculty research. External grant funding grew from 2014/15 to 2016/17, with active awards increasing from 54 to 70 and total funding increasing from $10M to $14.7M. Institutions that have been established as part of university research include: * Business Research and Education Center * California Energy Research Center (CERC) * California Well Sample Repository * Center for Economic Education and Research (CEER) * Center for Environmental Studies * Kegley Institute of Ethics * Political Research Center Cal State Bakersfield conducts scientific research using advanced facilities and technologies. Facilities include the Materials Science Engineering Lab, Sediment Analysis Lab, Computer Mapping and Simulation Lab, Plant Physiology Lab, and Elemental Composition Lab, Wireless Communications Lab, Robotics Lab, Power Systems Lab, VLSI/Circuits Lab, Cognitive Processes Lab, Behavioral Neuroscience Lab, Social Cognition Lab, and more. Researchers on campus have access to advanced equipment including scanning electron microscopy, high resolution CAT scanning, and 2D gel electrophoresis. Active areas of research include synthesizing polymers from renewable resources and geologic CO₂ storage. The California Energy Research Center (CERC) was announced in 2013 to foster collaborations between CSUB students, faculty, and the Kern County energy industries. Dr. Alan Fuchs became director of CERC in 2017. The California Energy Research Center will be housed in the 53,000 square-foot Energy and Engineering Innovation Center after its completion in 2023.

Rankings

* The Equality of Opportunity Project ranked CSU Bakersfield 3 on Upward Mobility and the Business Insider 18 on colleges with the best return on investment. * In 2021, ranked 20th in th
Social Mobility Index
by CollegeNet. *In 2021, ranked 21st out of 2
most affordable four-year colleges
by Best Value Schools. *In 2021, ranked 25th for "Top

Public Schools Public school may refer to: *State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...

" by '' U.S. News & World Report'' in the Regional Universities West category. * In 2021, ranked 28th for schools in "Top Performers on

Social Mobility Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location within a given society ...

", by ''U.S. News & World Report'' in the Regional Universities West category. * In 2021, ranked tied for 51 in "Regional Universities West", by ''U.S. News & World Report''. *In 2021, ranked 25 in Best Bang for the Buck, 68th in Master's University b
Washington Monthly
* In 2020, ranked tied for 92st in "Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs" where doctorates not offered, by ''U.S. News & World Report''. * In 2020, ranked tied for 221st in Undergraduate Nursing where doctorates not offered, by ''U.S. News & World Report''. * In 2020, ranked tied for 52nd overall out of 127 schools in "Regional Universities West", by ''U.S. News & World Report''. * In 2020, ranked tied for 24th out of 66 "Top

" by '' U.S. News & World Report'' in the Regional Universities West category. * In 2020, ranked tied for 31st out of 124 schools in "Top Performers on

", by ''U.S. News & World Report'' in the Regional Universities West category. * In 2020, ranked tied for 91st of 220 schools in "Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs" where doctorates not offered, by ''U.S. News & World Report''. * In 2020, ranked 9th in the "Best Bang for the Buck Colleges" category out of 215 schools in the U.S. western region by '' Washington Monthly''. * In 2019, ranked 17th out of 606 "Master's Universities" by ''Washington Monthly'' based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service. * In 2017, ranked 3rd in the nation for upward mobility by '' The New York Times''. * In 2014, ranked 20th in the United States by Payscale and CollegeNet's Social Mobility Index college rankings. * In 2014, ranked 39th in the United States by '' Time'' magazine in a list of the top 100 universities.

Athletics

CSU Bakersfield is currently an NCAA Division I school. The Roadrunners began the transition process in 2006 and became a full Division I member in July 2010. Following a period as one of a small number of Division I independents, CSU Bakersfield joined the Western Athletic Conference in July 2013 for most sports. For wrestling, CSUB competes in the

Pac-12 conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

. CSUB wrestling is the institution's original Division-I sport and has placed 3rd (1996) and 8th (1999) in the NCAA D-I Wrestling Championships. The men's and women's basketball teams compete on campus at the Icardo Center. On June 1, 2006, CSU Bakersfield President, Dr. Horace Mitchell formally announced that CSUB would raise $6 million over a five-year period for the additional costs for the athletics program. Part of the additional costs were to start a baseball program and a women's golf program. In September 2011, CSUB accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference for baseball. Rudy Carvajal was CSUB's Athletic Director from 1972 until his retirement on December 31, 2010. In 2005, Carvajal received the prestigious CSU Wang Family Award. Under Carvajal's leadership, CSUB has 30 national championships and received the

Sears Directors Cup The NACDA Directors' Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the NACDA Learfield Directors' Cup or simply as the Directors' Cup, is an award given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the colleges and univers ...

in 1998. Nearly 60,000 people attend NCAA sporting events at CSU Bakersfield. On May 17, 2007, CSUB announced that Bill Kernen would be the school's first baseball coach, with the school's first official season beginning in spring of 2009. On January 8, 2011, Jeff Konya assumed the position of Athletic Director. Kenneth "Ziggy" Siegfried was named Director of Athletics on August 20, 2015. On November 27, 2017, CSUB President Dr. Horace Mitchell announced that CSUB had accepted an invitation to join the Big West Conference. The Roadrunners will remain a member of the Western Athletic Conference until July 1, 2020, at which point it will begin a full membership in the Big West.

Athletic achievements

National Division II championships

*Men's basketball: 1993, 1994, 1997 *Men's swimming and diving: 1986–1993, 1998, 2000–2002, 2004 *Wrestling: 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980–1983, 1987 *Men's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

: 1997 *Softball: 1988, 1989, 1990 *Women's volleyball: 1989 *Women's tennis: 1977 (AIAW)

Student life

Admissions

Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment
In fall of 2013, CSUB enrolled its largest freshman class of over 1,300 students. As of fall 2018 CSU Bakersfield has the largest enrollment percentage of unknown Americans and along with CSU Chico the second largest enrollment percentage of Native Americans in the Cal State system.

Clubs and organizations

CSU Bakersfield has 120 recognized student clubs and organizations (including seven Greek Organizations: Phi Sigma Sigma, Gamma Phi Beta, Nu Phi Chi, Theta Sigma Chi, Kappa Delta Nu, Delta Zeta Tau, and Kappa Sigma) as of spring 2018. Each year, the top juniors, seniors, and graduate students receive membership invitations to join Alpha Chi through the California Iota chapter of the national honor society. The Associated Students Inc. (ASI) is the recognized student government and is known for having an active role on campus. The Bakersfield campus has a Student Union and a Recreation Center.

Enrollment and dormitories

CSUB is predominantly a commuter school, drawing its student body from a mix of recent high school graduates in the local area and working people returning to school or pursuing a degree part-time. While the majority of students live off-campus, the campus dorms can accommodate up to 324 students, or under 5% of the 2002 enrollment figure of 7,700. Space in the dorms has historically been plentiful, with single-occupancy rooms often available and one entire dorm devoted to faculty offices through the mid-1990s. However, space is now impacted and usually fills up quickly. New dorms opened in 2015. The six buildings comprising the original (West)

dorm A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

complex are each named after locations in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' novel: Rivendell, Rohan, Entwood, Numenor, Dobry, and Lorien. Dorm facilities include a first floor lounge in each building, a dining commons, a swimming pool, a sand volleyball court, a pond, and a parking lot. CSUB has added a new dorm complex called ''Student Housing East'' on the northeast end of campus. The original dormitories have been partially repurposed for use as offices.

Tradition

The CSUB Fight Song and Alma Mater were selected through a structured contest initiated by the student government, Associated Students Inc. (ASI). The winner of the Fight Song Contest was a current music student, Gwendolyn Wilcox, and the winner of the Alma Mater Contest was a CSUB alumnus and current high school music instructor, Bill Ingram.

Notable alumni

* Vincent Brothers, American mass murderer – MA, Education *

Jeffery Elwell Jeffery Elwell is a former President of Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). Early life and college Elwell spent much of his childhood in Southern California, graduating from James Monroe High School (California), James Monroe High School in 1975 ...

, President of Eastern New Mexico University – BA, English, 1979 * Kevin McCarthy, U.S. politician, House Minority Leader, Member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from the California's 23rd congressional district *

Scott Wilk Scott Thomas Wilk Sr. (born March 16, 1959) is an American politician who has served as the California State Senate minority leader since January 20, 2021. He is a Republican representing the 21st district, encompassing Antelope Valley, Victor ...

serving in the California State Senate. *

Roy Ashburn Roy Arthur Ashburn (born March 21, 1954) is an American politician from Kern County, California. A Republican, he served as a California State Senator from 2002 to 2010 representing the 18th district. He previously served three terms in the ...

, California State Senator – BA in Public Administration, 1983 *

John W. Ayers John W. Ayers is an adjunct associate professor and epidemiologist at University of California, San Diego, affiliated both with the university's School of Medicine and its Qualcomm Institute. He researches in the field of public health informati ...

, behavioral epidemiologist – BA, Political Science, 2006 *

Kathleen O'Neal Gear Kathleen O'Neal Gear (born 1954) is an American archaeologist and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Spur Award for best historical novel of the west, and two Special Achievement Awards from the U.S. Dept. of the Inte ...

, archaeologist and author *David Harrington, President and COO of Centre for Neuro Skills - MBA, 2005 *

Dushyant Chautala Dushyant Singh Chautala (born 3 April 1988) is a Jannayak Janta Party politician and current Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana. He is the president and co-founder of the Jannayak Janata Party. He represents Uchana Kalan constituency in Haryan ...

, Indian Politician, Member of Parliament – BS, Business Administration, 2014 *

Rich Herrera Rich Herrera is a nationally known sports radio personality. Herrera is the only radio announcer in MLB or the NFL of Mexican–American Heritage without a playing background. He was the first nationally syndicated Hispanic sports radio person ...

sports radio personality *

Greg Colson Greg Colson (born April 23, 1956) is an American artist best known for works that straddle the line between painting and sculpture that address concepts of efficiency and order. Using scavenged materials, Colson allows the physicality of his ma ...

, multimedia artist – BA, Fine Arts 1978 * Austin Davis, Major League Baseball pitcher for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Jeff Colson Jeff Colson (born 1957) is an American artist. Colson was born in Santa Ana, California in 1957. He uses diverse materials in painted and sculpted works that reflect both pop and conceptual art. His work often employs ''trompe l’oeil'' effect ...

, artist, recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship – BA, Fine Arts 1979 *Jeff Huckaby, President of

Grimmway Farms Grimmway Farms is the largest grower, producer, and shipper of carrots in the world. It is headquartered in Bakersfield, California, and has been family owned and operated for more than 40 years. Grimmway’s divisions include Grimmway Farms, Cal-O ...

– BS, Petroleum Land Studies, 1989 * Tito Ortiz, mixed martial artist and politician. *

Stephen Neal Stephen Matthew Neal (born October 9, 1976) is a former American football guard who played his entire career for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He is a former world champion in freestyle wrestling and two-time NCAA nat ...

, New England Patriot, NCAA and World Champion wrestler – BS, Physical Education 1999 *

Tucker Knight Levi Rolla Cooper (born July 24, 1990) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Tucker. After signing with WWE in 2013, he was assigned to their developmental brand NXT, under t ...

, WWE Superstar, part of collegiate wrestling career took place at CSUB * Jeremy Gunn, Stanford men's soccer coach – BS, Business Administration 1993, MBA 1999 * Lyle Martin, first American soccer player to play in the Chinese Super League * Gyasi Zardes, Major League Soccer player for Columbus Crew SC and member of the United States men's national soccer team * Matt Harris, American screenwriter – BA, English 1991

Notes

References

External links

*
CSU athletics website
{{Authority control

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

California State University, Bakersfield Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Educational institutions established in 1965 Education in Bakersfield, California Universities and colleges in Kern County, California 1965 establishments in California