Mission and Vision

Mission of Graduate Education

Graduate Education at California State University, Fullerton provides students with innovative programs that build advanced knowledge and skills through excellent teaching, research and creative activities, and collaborative learning. Our graduates engage and serve communities as catalysts of change.

In offering graduate programs, Cal State Fullerton is committed to:

• providing affordable access to high-quality educational experience for students from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds
• excellence in a broad diversity of programs in traditional and applied professional disciplines that translate into meaningful employment opportunities or placement into Ph.D. and professional programs
• fostering close interactions between students and faculty members in research, scholarly, and creative activities that are difficult to find at large institutions
• delivering on-campus, online, and hybrid programs that conveniently serve international, traditional, and non-traditional students, as well as internships and training opportunities that facilitate transitioning to the workplace
• moving graduate students to timely completion of their degrees through student support and mentoring programs, and access to state-of-the-art technology
• hiring and retaining faculty and staff committed to teaching and mentoring graduate students

A Vision for Graduate Education

California State University, Fullerton will be a humanizing learning community for graduate programs and a destination public university where students value lifelong learning.

Our graduate students:

• gain specialized knowledge and hands-on training in cutting-edge approaches in a supportive and nurturing environment that is sensitive to the demands of work and home life
• earn credentials to allow them to enter the workforce, increase mobility, and earning potential, or enter specialized professional and doctorate programs
• build a network of peers, mentors, and professional contacts
• gain personal satisfaction and a sense of achievement and self-worth

For the University, graduate students:

• increase the visibility and prestige of the campus by facilitating the recruitment, retention, and engagement of faculty whose research and creative activities, including pursuit of external funding, are enriched by collaboration with graduate students
• promote excellence in undergraduate teaching through their work as teaching associates in the classroom and laboratories, and as role models and mentors
• broaden the international, sociocultural, and demographic diversity of the campus
• represent a network of future alumni who give back to support our teaching and research missions

Rigorous graduate programs benefit the broader community by:

• training a reliable professional workforce across government, industry, education, and the arts
• building local expertise and skilled and creative leaders and policy-makers who will guide sustainable growth and be responsive to societal and global needs
• elevating the campus’ role as a nexus for community engagement and partnerships
• increasing intellectual literacy to unlock the human potential of the region