On Sept. 28, 1949, Los Angeles-Orange County State College opened with 19 faculty and 160 juniors and seniors. The students were prospective schoolteachers meeting the post-World War II Baby Boom demand, veterans taking advantage of G.I. Bill education benefits and others who wanted a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Sixty-five years and five name changes later, we’ve graduated nearly 300,000 alumni and now enroll nearly 37,000 students who view CSULB as the door to a better future for themselves, their families and the world. In the 2000s, three major new buildings opened—the Molecular and Life Sciences Building; the Hall of Science, the largest science building in the CSU; and the Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Major remodeling of the University Library and Liberal Arts buildings has created state-of-the-art smart learning spaces.

CSULB continues to accumulate national ranking kudos for excellence and affordability from Time magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Princeton Review, Diverse Issues in Higher Education and other media.

For more historical highlights, visit www.csulb.edu/goldengrads/historical. ▲

LA or OC?

In the late 1940s, state officials look at potential college sites in both counties. First classes meet in an apartment building on Anaheim Road in Long Beach, and in June 1950, Long Beach voters pass a bond to buy 320 acres for a campus while Fullerton voters reject a bond to bring a college there.

Our Name Is…

1949-50 Los Angeles-Orange County State College
1950-64 Long Beach State College
1964-68 California State College at Long Beach
1968-72 California State College, Long Beach
1972-today California State University, Long Beach