Palm Desert among the cities considered for new CSU campus

The City of Palm Desert is being considered for a full-fledged Cal State University campus. A team of consultants has been hired by the system, to analyze potential locations where a possible university can fit.

Other locations include Chula Vista, Stockton, Concord and San Mateo County.

The Coachella Valley Economic Partnership is one of the organizations vying for the construction of a Cal State campus to be built where the Cal State San Bernardino extension campus currently resides, off Cook Street and Berger Drive.

"Bringing a 4-year stand along college here would be the most transformative thing that’s ever happened out here. It’ll do more for our economy, it’ll do more for our workforce, than arenas, casinos, surf parks. It will elevate this place more than anything ever has," Coachella Valley Economic Partnership CEO, Joe Wallace said.

CVEP will present their case on Friday at a roundtable, heavily relying on the fact that the desert does not have 4-year colleges within a 60-mile radius, according to the organization.

"People that are born here are relatively low-income; to have to drive to San Bernardino or Riverside everyday, is enough of a financial burden," Wallace said.

Wallace says there is not a big enough range of programs here, for students wanting to get into specified fields, like computer engineering.