Fresno State welcomes more than 24,000 students back to campus

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Monday marked the first day of class for thousands of Fresno State students from across the Valley.

They got a warm welcome.

While some may have had the first-day jitters, freshman Esmeralda Guzman did not.

"It's been pretty good, everyone is nice and kind and the professors are really understanding that it's our first day so they take it easy and they remind us that we don't need to be nervous or anything," Guzman said.

The university welcomed more than 6,000 new undergraduate students, with enrollment projected to be more than 24,000 this academic year.

Junior Noah Lo was excited to finally get the full college experience.

"This year everything is a lot more open, so it feels like almost my first year in college really," Lo said.

Administrators planned fun activities to kick off the semester.

There were booths with school spirit swag, free food, and resources to help students in their first week.

Andrew Esguerra is with the Fresno State Student Involvement team.

He said, "We do try and make that pathway and that transition as seamless as possible, as welcoming as possible - -and that's really our goal as employees at Fresno state - to help students be successful, and to help those prospective students be successful as well."

In some areas, you could see construction in progress.

Right in the center of the campus is the new Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Union, which will have a grand opening in October.

And that's not the only highly anticipated event this fall.

"The football games...yeah...I'm very big on football so I'm excited," said Guzman.

Fresno State officials said masks are no longer required indoors, but are strongly encouraged in large group settings.

Plus, all students, faculty and staff are required to have a COVID-19 vaccination and booster.

You can read more about the vaccination policy here.

About 56 percent of Fresno State's students come from Fresno County, while 82 percent come from the broader six-county region of the Valley.

The university is one of 23 California State University campuses across the state.