Office of the President

California State University, Bakersfield is a thriving, welcoming community dedicated to progress through education, service, innovation and culture in the heart of the nation’s most populous and diverse state, focused on our singular mission to put the success of students at the core of all we do.

Our university was the dream of thousands of Southern San Joaquin Valley families, who, for generations, were faced with the hardship of sending their children hundreds of miles from home for a college education. Through their perseverance, Cal State Bakersfield opened for classes in October of 1970. And in 2000, we opened CSUB-Antelope Valley, a satellite campus in Los Angeles County.

Fifty-three years later, we are still building on that dream. Today, we are at a pinnacle of excellence that is taking our students into unprecedented realms of opportunity, research and achievement, and we are taking our entire region with us.

In science, we are joining with leading laboratories, government agencies and industry partners to envision a new era for energy here in the Energy Capital of California, creating an atmosphere of research and collaboration that is helping CSUB build a pipeline of STEM professionals for our state.

We also are the single largest supplier of teachers and nurses with advanced degrees in our region, and we our proud that the selfless professionals who fill such critical needs in any community consider CSUB their home.

And our reach extends even farther: Agricultural business, economics, entrepreneurship, prelaw, sociology, psychology, criminal justice, kinesiology and, of course, the humanities and the arts, where we offer a full array of experiential training in theatre, music, the visual arts, communications and so much more.

With a population of about 11,000 students, the size of CSUB’s classes allows for greater opportunities for one-on-one interaction with our outstanding faculty members. And we have wrap-around support services that range from responsive financial aid teams and academic advising sessions to basic needs resources, like trips to the Food Pantry and free student health care and counseling services.

But CSUB also is a lot of fun. A full collegiate experience is not complete without lifelong memories of your time here, making friends, exploring your talents, and attending campus events, including concerts, carnivals, spirit days, stimulating conversations and lectures, and the many NCAA Division I athletic events.

At CSUB, we are working to make a difference in the lives of our students, our region and the world, and our efforts are being noticed. We regularly rank in the top tier in the two most important measures of a university’s success on behalf of students: affordability and social mobility – or how far a student can soar with a CSUB degree.

When students, faculty, staff, community members, and first-time visitors arrive on our campus, we hope that the feeling is the same:

You are welcome. You belong here.

And you are a Roadrunner.

Vernon B. Harper Jr.

President California State University, Bakersfield