The California State University system establishes baseline eligibility criteria for undergraduate applicants, requiring California residents to hold a minimum a-g course GPA of 2.50, while non-residents generally need a 3.00 or higher. However, because most individual CSU campuses and specific majors are heavily impacted and over-subscribed, the realistic competitive GPA required to secure admission into most programs is often significantly higher than this absolute minimum threshold, depending heavily on applicant volume and major capacity.