The following definitions apply to all undergraduate applicant types, regardless of citizenship. The International Admissions section includes additional details specific to international applicants and U.S. citizens/permanent residents educated outside the U.S.

Freshman/First-Year  

You are a freshman/first-year applicant if you've never attended college OR all of your college credits were earned prior to high school graduation (or equivalent).

  • Refer to instructions for dual enrollment and fifth year programs if you’ve taken college course work during high school or as your high school curriculum, including offerings such as early college or ASCENT.
  • Details for students who earned a GED, homeschooled, graduated early, or completed an online high school diploma are below.
  • Freshman decision factors also apply to transfer applicants with fewer than 30 post-high school credits complete at the point of application.

Refer to the freshman/first-year application guide on the Admissions website for details.

Specialized Freshman/First-Year Populations 

This information applies to freshman/first-year applicants and transfer applicants with fewer than 30 post-high school credits complete at the point of application.

Dual/Concurrent Enrollment Applicants  

See the Admissions website for Dual Enrollment and Fifth Year Program applicants.

Applicants whose only college course work has been completed prior to graduating from high school are considered freshman/first-year applicants with dual/concurrent enrollment. This includes students enrolled at an early college, through ASCENT, or through any other program that utilizes college enrollment to meet high school graduation requirements. 

The admission decision will take into consideration performance in both high school and college-level courses. Completion of college-level course work before high school graduation is considered a demonstration of academic rigor comparable to completion of Advanced Placement (AP) and/or International Baccalaureate (IB) work. Courses will be evaluated for advanced-standing credit after admission is granted. 

Dual/concurrent enrollment students are eligible for freshman/first-year scholarships and are required to live in the residence halls, regardless of the number of college credits earned. 

GED Applicants 

See the Admissions website for applicants with GED Credentials (or equivalent)

We’re committed to making an exceptional college education accessible to students from a wide range of backgrounds. Differences in educational background are a welcome part of the mix. Students who did not graduate from high school are welcome to apply with evidence of high school equivalency earned through GED, HiSet or other state-approved high school equivalents. To be eligible for admission, applicants must present qualifying high school equivalency test results in addition to demonstrating other evidence of academic readiness through transcript(s) and support documents.

Note: Transfer applicants with more than 30 but fewer than 60 college-credits completed must submit proof of high school equivalence; however, scores are not considered in the admission decision. 

Homeschooled Applicants 

See the Admissions website for Homeschooled Students.

Homeschooled applicants are welcome at CSU and are evaluated for admission according to general admission criteria; there are no special requirements for applicants who have homeschooled.

We recognize that homeschooling can allow for customized teaching methods, curricula, and learning environments that may differ from “traditional” education models. Our comprehensive, individual review process is designed to accommodate unique backgrounds as long as we can assess core academic factors in our review of credentials. 

Your homeschool transcript can take any form as long as we can determine 1) how you completed our recommended high school classes and 2) how you were graded, assessed, or considered to have “mastered” content to move on in your chosen curriculum. If you did not follow a traditional academic calendar or age-based instruction, if you were not assessed using traditional letter or percentile grades, or if you have otherwise customized your homeschool experience so that something other than a traditional transcript with courses and grades is necessary to understand your college preparation, we encourage you to include with your application a description of the learning environment, a list of courses and brief statement about course content, and an explanation of how your content-mastery was assessed.

Be sure to reference information for dual/concurrent enrollment applicants if you are using college enrollment as your homeschool curriculum (i.e., completing community college work as your junior/senior year equivalent).

Early Graduates 

See the Admissions website for Early High School Graduation.

Freshman/first-year applicants who complete high school in fewer than four years are evaluated for admission according to general admission criteria. Admission preference is given to students who maximize their high school experience by taking accelerated and/or academically rigorous course work such as Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and/or dual/concurrent enrollment college courses in order to satisfy the recommended high school classes.

Whether you are graduating high school one semester or one year early, fall entrance is strongly recommended. Early graduates seeking spring semester entry must have a date of graduation prior to the first day of spring classes evident on a final transcript or on a verification letter from the high school, submitted before the start of the spring semester.

Online High School Students 

See the Admissions website for Online High School Classes or Graduation.

Applicants who complete all or part of their high school curriculum online are evaluated for admission according to general admission criteria. Admission preference is given to students who maximize their high school experience by taking accelerated and/or academically rigorous course work such as Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and/or dual/concurrent enrollment college courses in order to satisfy the recommended high school classes.

While we are flexible in our recognition of online high school completion programs and do not require a specific type of accreditation, regional accreditation typically is a good indication of alignment with our admission criteria.

Transfer Students  

You are a transfer applicant if you have enrolled in any amount of college-level course work at a regionally-accredited college/university after high school graduation or equivalent. If you will have fewer than 30 post-high school college credits completed at the point of application, the admission decision also will include consideration of your high school credentials. Learn more about Transfer and Test Credit here.

Refer to the transfer application guide for details.

Second Bachelor's/Post-Bachelor Candidates 

You are a second bachelor’s/post-bachelor student if you have completed an undergraduate degree and wish to complete additional undergraduate course work (with or without completing another undergraduate degree).

Follow the second bachelor's application guide if you've never attended CSU as a degree-seeking undergraduate student.

Follow the returning student application guide if you've previously attended CSU as a degree-seeking undergraduate student (regardless of whether you completed your first degree at CSU). 

Returning Students  

You are a returning student if you were previously enrolled at CSU as an admitted, degree-seeking undergraduate student and you either 1) stopped out for at least one fall or spring semester and wish to return to undergraduate degree-seeking status or 2) completed an undergraduate degree and wish to enroll in another undergraduate degree program at the second bachelor's level.

Refer to the returning student application guide for details.