CSUMB Grad Studies

At Cal State Monterey Bay, experiential learning through internships is fundamental to building confident, career-ready leaders. Check out this incredible alumni spotlight to see how one transformative internship experience sparked the entrepreneurial drive to launch a successful business.

Juan Perez | CSU Juan Perez | Alumni | Monterey Bay “If I hadn’t taken that first internship, I wouldn’t be out here in the fields as my own boss.” Thanks to summer internships through CSU Monterey Bay, Juan Perez found a career he loves. Today, his organic farm in the Salinas Valley delivers fresh produce t...

Cal State Monterey Bay maintained its impressive standing as the fourth-best public university among medium-sized California schools in suburban settings, according to Forbes magazine’s “America’s Top Colleges List 2027.” The university was also ranked 11th in the nation in the same category.

CSUMB repeats as a top California school in Forbes rankings The university repeated a fourth-place ranking from last year.

Two of Cal State Monterey Bay's programs were chosen for a new CSU grant initiative, the 2026–27 Growth in Undergraduate Innovation, Discovery and Engagement (GUIDE) program. Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State LA are partnering with the USDA Agricultural Research in Salinas to identify more precise irrigation strategies for producing romaine lettuce. And Prof. Arun Jani is "Linking Soil Health, Microbial Diversity, and Insect Communities to Sustainable Cacao Production in Costa Rica."

The initiative is supporting 26 undergraduate research experiences across 19 universities, benefiting nearly 4,000 students.

Read about these and other projects here: https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/news/Pages/CSU-GUIDE-Grants-Put-Students-at-Center-of-Research.aspx

With nearly half of its more than 470,000 students identifying as Hispanic/Latinx, the California State University serves one of the nation’s most diverse student populations and is recognized as a national leader in educating Hispanic/Latinx students.

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we asked the CSU’s Latinx leaders to reflect on ​their leadership journeys, sources of inspiration and visions for the future.

CSU Latinx Leaders on the Journeys That Shaped Them | CSU In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, CSU Latinx leaders reflect on the people, traditions and experiences that have influenced their leadership and commitment to student success.

In the fall of 2027, Cal State Monterey Bay will become one of only a few universities offering an accelerated in-person Master’s program in Computer Science, one in which a student can earn a degree in a single year.

Computer science master’s degree candidates can view application Aug. 1 Prospective students can apply for the one-year program starting Oct. 1.

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Cal State Monterey Bay has maintained its excellent rating in Money magazine’s Best Colleges 2026 report, released June 23. For the fourth year running, CSUMB received 4.5 out of a possible five stars.

Money has consistently rewarded the California State University system with high ratings and, last year, deemed it the best public university system in the country.

CSUMB gets high praise again from Money magazine For the fourth year in a row, CSUMB received a 4.5-star rating.

The California State University (CSU) is helping lead a first-in-the-nation effort to prepare Californians for an AI-enabled future through AI-Ready California, a new statewide AI literacy micro-credential pilot program.

AI-Ready California is a fully online, fre​e program designed to meet the growing demand for AI skills in California workplaces.

“Students are now engaging in AI-enhanced education and developing critical skills that are preparing them to enter a workforce where AI will be a permanent collaborator. With the launch of AI-Ready California, we will now be able to help not only students but rather all community members evolve in the age of AI.”

CSU Advances Universal AI Literacy Education Across California Through New Micro-Credential Pilot Program | CSU California pilot program to expand access to AI learning through university-industry-government partnership.

With an eye on preparing students to adapt and thrive in today’s work and life, the CSU Chancellor’s Office has established the Learning Innovation for Future-Forward Teaching (LIFT) program. The one-year funding opportunity invites individual CSU faculty members or teams to design and test teaching innovations that intentionally embed durable skills into undergraduate courses and programs.

Three of Monterey Bay's projects were chosen, focusing on AI in the classroom, psychology and critical thinking. Read about these and the other 60 projects about AI adoption within the academic environment by clicking the link below.

https://genai.calstate.edu/communities/faculty/csu-artificial-intelligence-educational-innovations-challenge-award-showcases

Four projects were selected as the winners of the California State University’s first-ever Regional Pitch Contest, and CSUMB in collaboration with Bakersfield, Fresno, & San Luis Obispo was one who will receive $100,000.

These CSU campuses are partnering to create a regional talent network that expands access to internships and early-career opportunities across participating campuses. “This proposal, CSU-TX: CSU Talent Exchange, grew from recognizing that we could better serve students and regional employers by working as one coordinated CSU network,” said Andrew Lawson, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Cal State Monterey Bay.

CSU Announces First Regional Pitch Contest Winners | CSU The contest challenged campuses to work together to develop solutions to student-identified issues on a regional level.