California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post-baccalaureate areas of study. Founded in 1957, California State University, East Bay has a student body of almost 15,000. In Fall 2018, it had 877 faculty, of whom 339 (or 39%) were on the tenure track. The university’s largest and oldest college campus is located in Hayward, with additional campus-sites in the nearby cities of Oakland and Concord.
The university was established as State College for Alameda County (Alameda State College), with its primary mission to serve the higher education needs of both Alameda County and Contra Costa County. Its construction was part of the California Master Plan for Higher Education as proposed by Clark Kerr and the original site for the school was Pleasanton, California. The campus was moved to Hayward before plans were finalized due to the efforts of State Assembly member Carlos Bee and other boosters from the Hayward community, including S.E. Bond Jr, and E. Guy Warren, namesake of Warren Hall. At the time of its opening in 1959, classes were first held on the campus of Sunset Elementary School and then Hayward High School. With the addition of the school, higher education in the San Francisco Bay Area became more accessible. To the south was San Jose State College (now San Jose State University) serving the South Bay counties. To the west was San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University) serving San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. To the north is Sonoma State University, serving Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties. Chabot College, a part of the California Community College system, opened nearby in Hayward in 1961.
The university has undergone numerous transitions in its history, making name changes accordingly. In 1961, the school was moved to its present location in the Hayward Hills and renamed Alameda County State College. In 1963, the name was changed to California State College at Hayward. The school was granted university status in 1972, changing its name to California State University, Hayward. In 2005, the university implemented a new, broader mission to serve the eastern San Francisco Bay Area and adopted the name California State University, East Bay. The proposal to rename the campus to California State University, East Bay was approved by the California State University Board of Trustees on January 26, 2005.