EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Our perennial Largest Colleges and Universities List identifies the usual suspects, ranked on their total full-time equivalent enrollment. This leaves California State University, Northridge at the top of the list. The listed schools combined have more than 150,000 students enrolled in undergrad and graduate programs and a total budget of more than $8.3 billion. Since tuition, in-state, out-of-state, and fees vary widely from school to school, the Business Journal decided to specify whether tuition costs refer to the price per semester (S), per unit (U), or per academic school year (Y). —Ari Morguelan PACESETTER – Northridge California State University, Northridge, in addition to being number one on our Largest Colleges and Universities List, is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Founded in 1958, CSUN was a satellite campus of Cal State L.A. until July of that year. It was then called San Fernando Valley State and the first class in the fall of 1958 had 2,525 students and cost $29 per semester. Now, 50 years later, CSUN boasts an enrollment of more than 34,000 students and has become a world-class institution while remaining affordable. The campus currently has multiple projects under construction including the Valley Performing Arts Center, a state-of-the art science building, student housing and a parking structure. In this anniversary year, a record 10,051 students were eligible to graduate during commencement in May. —Ari Morguelan
