California State University, Dominguez Hills


California State University, Dominguez Hills is a public university in Carson, California. It was founded in 1960 and is part of the California State University system.
In Fall 2016 the university had a total enrollment of 14,731 students comprising 12,632 undergraduates and 2,099 post baccalaureates, with over half of the student population identifying as the first in their families to go to college. CSUDH is one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the western United States. It enrolls the largest number and percentage of African American students of any CSU campus. CSUDH is consistently ranked nationally as a top degree producer for minority students, including graduating more African American students than any public university in California.
CSUDH offers 46 majors for a Bachelor's degrees, 23 different Master's degrees, a variety of single, multi-subject and specialized teaching credentials and a number of undergraduate, graduate and post-baccalaureate certificate programs within its five colleges: College of Arts and Humanities, College of Business Administration and Public Policy, College of Extended and International Education, College of Health, Human Services and Nursing, and College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences. The university is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission ; is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution; and is nationally accredited in business administration, chemistry, clinical sciences, computer science, education, health science, music, nursing, occupational therapy, public administration, social work, and theatre arts. The campus offers small class sizes for its students.
The campus sits on the historic Rancho San Pedro, the oldest land grant in the Los Angeles area. The land was in the continuous possession of the Dominguez family through seven generations - from its concession to Juan Jose Dominguez in 1784 to its acquisition by the people of the state of California for the university. The campus mascot is the Toro, Spanish for bull.

History

The foundation for what would become CSU Dominguez Hills was built in 1960 when then Governor of California Pat Brown provided state funds to begin development of the campus. It was originally to be located in Palos Verdes, California, and known as South Bay State College. The tentative name was changed to California State College at Palos Verdes in 1962. In 1964, architect A. Quincy Jones successfully designed a master plan for construction. As the permanent campus had not yet been constructed, the first classes began to be taught in 1965 at the California Federal Savings Bank in Rolling Hills Estates, California. The college began with an enrollment of approximately 40 students.
In 1965 the designated location for the campus was moved to an area known as Dominguez Hills in Carson. The Palos Verdes site was abandoned both due to high land prices in Palos Verdes, and the Watts Riots exposing a need for a campus to serve the populations of South Los Angeles.
The university was established, in large part, as a response to the African American outcry for higher education standards and opportunities. Additionally, from the months of October to November in 1969, demonstrations regarding the Vietnam War were held on the campus. In 1977 the California Postsecondary Education Commission endorsed the college trustees’ desire to change the name of the school from California State College, Dominguez Hills to California State University, Dominguez Hills.
In 2015, Cal State Dominguez Hills ranked #11 in Washington Monthly's list of Master's University Rankings. This same year CSUDH was ranked 88th nationally by The Brookings Institution for the value-add to students who graduate from there. Using a similar methodology, The Economist ranked CSUDH 63rd in its 2015 college rankings.

The university today

CSU Dominguez Hills is a major university for the Southern geographical region of Los Angeles County and Orange County. It offers 46 undergraduate majors, 23 master's degrees, and a number of certificate and credential programs. The campus is accredited by the following associations: Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, the National Association of Schools of Music, and the National Association of Schools of Theatre. Dominguez Hills is also the administrative headquarters of the California State University's Statewide Nursing Program.
CSU Dominguez Hills is also the home of Dignity Health Sports Park, a 27,000 seat multiple-sports and entertainment complex, which also houses the LA Galaxy Soccer Team, and Calvary Chapel's Easter Service each year among other community organizations. The Velodrome seats 2,450, and the Track and Field facilities are world-class.

Fall Freshman Statistics
201420132012201120102009
Freshman Applicants8,2579,7199,35813,81012,0839,729
Admits6,6917,7668,1387,3376,9995,737
% Admitted8179.986.953.157.959.0
Enrolled1,2861,5561,2141,1731,0371,135
GPA3.123.073.093.003.003.00


From 2009 to 2015 CSUDH hosted the Educación: Feria Es El Momento in partnership with Univision's Los Angeles stations KMEX 34 and KFTR 46. California State University, Dominguez Hills has been designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is a member of the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Its College of Education & College of Arts and Humanities offer bilingual education teachers additional training for them to improve their academic Spanish. As of fall 2018 it has the third largest percentage of Latino Americans that are not Mexican-American in the Cal State system.
Starting in 2011 Cal State Dominguez Hills began hosting the "Honoring the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas" pow wow. The campus is also home to the American Indian Institute which has the goal of increasing the number of students from Native American peoples who enroll and graduate from the CSU.
The university also ranks first in California for the number of bachelor's degrees conferred on black students.
Every year Dominguez Hills hosts the Connecting Women to Power Business Conference. Its goal is to, "Provide women entrepreneurs with an opportunity to hear from and dialogue with experts on technology, new media, marketing/branding, acquiring capital, securing investors, global expansion, and strategic management." The conference is sponsored by the State Board of Equalization. The campus has an unusually high percentage of female students with one the highest female-to-male ratios of a U.S. university.
CSU Dominguez Hills students have conducted research with "Toros" presenting their findings in the Annual Student Research Day. CSUDH also offers the McNair Scholars Program.
* All levels, freshman through graduate
African American11%
Asian American8%
Pacific Islander0.3%
White European Americans7%
Native American/American Indian0.1%
Hispanic American64%
Multiracial Americans3%
Non-resident alien5%
Unknown3%

In 2014 following its acquisition of 21 new Steinway-designed pianos, California State University, Dominguez Hills was named an All-Steinway School, the first public four-year university in California to receive the designation. These instruments are subject to periodic inspections by Steinway factory representatives.
Sixty-five percent of CSUDH students engage in service learning, both through the formal curriculum and the university's service learning hub, the Center for Service Learning, Internships, & Civic Engagement and the university has been a Presidential Winner of the 2014 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The Presidential Award is the highest federal recognition an institution can receive for its commitment to community, service-learning, and civic engagement.
Recent years have seen the university focusing more on the STEMs hosting the Annual STEM in Education Conference, offering the First-Year Undergraduate STEM Experience and in 2014 hosting the Women in STEM Conference. Its Center for Innovation in STEM Education was established in 2014 by a donation from the Annenberg Foundation and aims to improve local education with various STEM initiatives. CSUDH also offers a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Technology with an option to concentrate in Homeland Security, and a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. In 2017, it was given a $4 million grant from Toyota to create an 87,000 square foot science and innovation center to prepare students for a career in science, technology, engineering and math. The future Toyota Center for Innovation in STEM Education will include a fabrication lab, high-tech classrooms, collaborative workspaces and labs for K-12 teacher training.

Leo F. Cain Library

California State University, Dominguez Hills opened the new Library South wing to the Leo F. Cain University Library in 2010 adding to a campus already widely regarded as beautiful.
Funded by the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006, which provided the university with $50 million for the project, as well as a successful fundraising campaign, the facility doubles the size of the original library and affords much-needed room for the library's entire collection of books and research materials, comfortable study areas, grand reading rooms, technologically advanced archival storage and research areas, 1,600 reader stations, 250 computer workstations, two dedicated computer labs, an events center and multi-cultural art gallery and learning center. Composed primarily of glass and metal, the Library South Wing is a five-story, state-of-the-art library facility which provides outstanding educational and cultural resources for the growing campus and surrounding community.

Athletics

CSU Dominguez Hills' athletic teams are known as the 'Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros', and the university's colors are Toro cardinal and gold. Dominguez Hills competes against other universities in Division II of the NCAA in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The men's soccer team plays at Toro Stadium. Other sports venues for the university are the Torodome for basketball and volleyball; Toro Field for baseball; and Toro Diamond for softball. Select home games are nationally televised live via Internet TV.
CSU Dominguez Hills is also the home of Dignity Health Sports Park. Dignity Health Sports Park, formerly the Home Depot Center and then StubHub Center, is a multiple-use sports complex on the West Coast of the United States, located on the campus of CSUDH. Its primary tenant is the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer and its naming rights have been held since 2019 by health provider Dignity Health. The $150 million complex opened in 2003 and was developed by the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which remains the facility's operator; with a seating capacity of 27,000, it is the second-largest soccer-specific stadium in MLS, after BMO Field. During its first decade, the stadium's sponsor was hardware retailer The Home Depot, followed by six years of sponsorship by online ticket retailer StubHub. The Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League used the stadium from 2017 until the completion of SoFi Stadium in 2020. The Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL also play at the stadium.
Dignity Health Sports Park was also the site of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup Final. Both the United States men's and women's national soccer teams often use the facility for training camps and select home matches. During the 2028 Summer Olympics, the venue will host rugby, modern pentathlon, tennis and field hockey.
The CSU Dominguez Hills Men's Golf Team won the 2015, 2016, 2018, & 2019 PGA Works Collegiate Golf Championship, a National Championship open to Historically Minority Colleges.
The Toros of CSU Dominguez Hills have earned 3 NCAA team championships at the Division II level.
CSU Dominguez Hills has over 81,555 alumni, of whom 67% live and work within of the campus, establishing a strong CSUDH presence throughout the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. The University plays a major role in the region's economy — a recent economic impact study revealed CSU Dominguez Hills generates a total impact of $328.4 million annually in the South Bay, and nearly $335.3 million on the statewide economy. This impact sustains nearly 3,000 jobs in the region and statewide economy. Per year, the impact generates more than $18.5 million in local and nearly $20 million in statewide tax revenue. Even greater—more than $1 billion of the earnings by alumni from CSU Dominguez Hills are attributable to their CSU degrees. The average amount of debt its students accumulate is $15,838.

Nursing

California State University, Dominguez Hill's School of Nursing offers three nursing degree programs: The Bachelor of Science in Nursing, the Master of Science degree in Nursing for registered nurses who wish to specialize in an area of advanced practice; and the Master of Science degree in Nursing - Clinical Nurse Leader role option. The programs are fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The nursing school at CSUDH is one of the largest in the Cal State system.
In 2015, Terri Ares, a lecturer and CNS program advisor at Cal State, Dominguez Hills, was named "Educator of the Year" by the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists.

Notable people

Alumni