The California State University System is cutting the number of students it accepts in order to cope with deep cuts to its budget.
The UC system also expects things to get even worse.
Students at San Jose state rallied against budget cuts.
San Jose is one of the 23 CSU campuses losing a combined $66 million for this academic year. That's in addition to $246 million already cut.
In response CSU will make the first-ever changes to its admissions policy by accepting 10,000 fewer students next year.
"We already don't have enough funding for all of the students we have on our campus right now. So we're facing the prospect of having to manage the numbers down to meet the budget because we can't stretch any further," said Vice President of Student Affairs Veril Phillips.
Already-enrolled students will be given top-priority for enrollment, followed by eligible community college students and high school seniors who apply within their campuses service area. Lowest priority will be given to out-of-state and foreign students.
Admissions applications will close down November 30 and no new students will be accepted after March 1.
CSU officials say the new policy might have the greatest impact on students whose parents are unsure how and when to apply for financial aid.
CSU student Letu Tapaatoutai told ABC7, "It actually makes you really angry because the CSU system was set up to be affordable education for all students of different economic, ethnic backgrounds."
The UC system is also dealing with deep cuts. The regents met in San Francisco Wednesday where Lt. Governor John Garamendi spoke out against proposed tuition hikes.
"The proposed budget cuts that the Governor is making, $2.2 billion, comes down on our students. It clearly will slam the door on 10,000 students at the CSU system. Whether it's going to close the door at the UC we don't know yet," said Garamendi.
The UC system is already not filling positions and putting off maintenance to deal with current budget cuts.
