Cal State Monterey Bay will offer new bachelor's degrees in history and communication starting fall 2027, provost Andrew Lawson announced Saturday, Oct. 17, at the university's annual Open House.

Lawson also said a public health degree would launch that fall. However, a university announcement in June said the public health bachelor's degree would begin accepting students in fall 2026. The university has not clarified the discrepancy.

The event drew 1,700 people to the Seaside campus, including 660 prospective students, according to a university news release. Visitors toured facilities under cloudless skies and summer-like temperatures, sampled vegetable spring rolls and Thai iced tea, and met representatives from student clubs.

The history and communication degrees are part of a broader expansion. The California State University Chancellor's Office approved both programs on July 24, along with an online kinesiology degree. Both had existed as concentrations within existing departments for years.

James Hussar, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, said the history major had been discussed for at least a decade. "We don't want to be the CSU's best-kept secret," Hussar said in a July statement announcing the approvals.

The public health degree was elevated from a concentration in the collaborative health and human services program. Phillip Post, dean of the College of Health Science and Human Services, said CSUMB had been losing students to other universities that already offered the major.

Community college graduates with associate degrees in public health often enrolled at schools outside the area, Post said. He anticipated enrolling 100 to 125 students in the program within a few years.

Lawson also highlighted capital improvements at the Open House. The Edward Taylor Science and Engineering Building is under construction and scheduled to open in spring 2028. Renovations to the Robert Darwin Black Box Cabaret, a student-run performing arts space, are underway.

The turnout was significant. Visitors wore lanyards with "Otter Support" badges and were greeted by dozens of staff members in blue polos stationed across campus. Professors and deans fielded questions from prospective students about specific degree programs.

Kamora Macarthur, a senior at Pinnacles High School in Soledad, said she was struck by the diversity of student clubs, including Black Students United and the Asian and Pacific Islander Association. "The representation surprised me," said Macarthur, who identifies as Black and Filipino. "It made me feel welcome, and I want to know more."

Several Pinnacles High students attended the Open House before applying to CSUMB. Paraeducator Ariel Vasquez-Hernandez said the university is many of her students' primary college application.

Cal State Monterey Bay enrolls about 8,233 students. Thirty-three percent come from Monterey County, and 49% are first-generation college students, according to university enrollment data. The school ranked No. 2 for social mobility among Western Regional Universities in the U.S. News & World Report 2027 Best Colleges list.

Post projected the public health program could reach 100 to 125 students within a few years, a potential draw for community college transfer students across the region.