California State University, East Bay – Concord Campus

I’m doing my whole teaching credential program here. The professors are so great. So, are all the staff. Plenty of parking. Beautiful campus surroundings. I just wish the bookstore would carry healthy food instead of candy and junk food. The campus is also not near anything, so you would have to drive about 5 – 10 minutes to get to anything else. The bus here from Concord BART is too limited for my schedule, so I have to drive. $ 130 each quarter for a parking permit :(About $ 2500 per quarter in tuition. They host their own graduation ceremony in June. I miss all of the events at the Hayward campus like sporting events and concerts, which sucks because all the Hayward kids get that and a Starbucks on campus. All this campus has is a coffee machine like the gas stations. The bathrooms smell bad and many times the soap dispensers don’t work. The WiFi has problems and the library hours are limited. I feel like CSUEB in general is really preparing me for my career though even though the actual campus itself could use a bit of work.

I personally prefer this campus over the Hayward one. It’s smaller, compact and has everything in one place.
The community and student body are smaller but that’s what I like about it.
They have a bookstore, library, nursing department, admissions, computer lab and a student clinic.
They do not have a financial aid office.
The bookstore is only limited to selling books that are held at the campus so if you are taking online classes they don’t sell those books here, you have to go to Hayward or buy online.
Parking lot is huge.
They hold the concord graduation ceremony here at boatwright fields every June usually on Saturdays.
I liked this campus, easy to navigate and has the necessary resources without having to drive all the way to Hayward.

In response to a previous review from Sugar regarding the paralegal studies program, I’d like to offer a somewhat different picture than what that poster’s provided here.
–Per survey results issued by Janet Kelly (Program Coordinator), roughly 80% of paralegal studies CSUEB graduates locate permanent paralegal work within six months (most students on a loan, as in from Sallie Mae, receive six months deferral). From our recent seminar, several graduates who spoke to us claimed that their initial paralegal jobs arrived within sometimes a month, perhaps even DAYS (this includes 2011 certificate recipients, as Sugar’s review’s dated from that year).
–Law firms, corporations, real estate offices, the government, even BANKS consistently hire paralegals for a myriad of reasons: retirement, resignations (sometimes in following an exiting attorney who requests that employee join him/​her at another firm), major settlement’s scored them additional funds to open slots, etc. The reality is this field’s not entirely sequestered in legal practices, a fact Sugar should have realized from the Intro to Paralegalism seminar. Another reason for the hiring (all this, by the way, the U.S. Dept of Labor augments through independently calculated projected estimates at paralegal jobs increasing 22% until roughly 2018) stems on reduced costs: modern paralegals oversee duties previously adhered to by legal practitioners (including but not limited to interviewing clients, drafting memorandums and case briefs, heavy legal research) but come at a reduced rate for obvious reasons: not as skilled in the law as licensed attorneys (a profession unlikely to see the paralegal field’s estimated robust development. Numerous paralegal friends of mine, such as one in Texas, confirm paralegal jobs soon amounting to a dime a dozen. This specific friend, much like the CSUEB grads who spoke to us at the seminar, located her first job in rapid timing).
–CSUEB’s program is ABA approved, therefore attractive to potential employers in far superior ways than candidates possessing certificates from non ABA institutions or having a GED/​three years paralegal experience combo
–I’m rather skeptical about this belief that a professor insisted «nobody’s hiring», as the instructors teaching my classes promote an enthusiastic outlook for the profession, not to mention would view such pessimistic declarations as contradictory towards their craft. After all, primary objectives from the paralegal studies program incorporate a motivational undertone, thus encouraging enrollment… no lawyer, judge, or paralegal (the three professionals teaching all required courses) would utter such bold statements when verified information not only belies their inaccurate assessment but program officials maintain documentation from a large percentage of recent grads that offer an antithetical reality.
*Now, after clarifying those issues so that other prospective applicants aren’t dissuaded by Sugar’s rather incomplete analysis, examine my subsequent pros cons*
PROS
–Beautiful scenic views situated amidst a metropolitan atmosphere. Down the street exists a shopping center equipped with K-​Mart, independently owned (delicious) restaurants, Lucky supermarket,
–Exquisite buildings, designed under a modern technological framework. The buildings seem to resemble a cosmopolitan, Silicon Valley esque area. Highly clean campus, too, from computer laboratories to bathrooms and everywhere else.
–Affordable tuition. Of the three programs I checked (CSU EB, SFSU, JFK University), CSU EB’s paralegal program costs at least $ 1,000 (likely $ 1.5K) less than SFSU and THOUSANDS less than JFK, not to mention has a treasured reputation (CSU EB mandates an internship, something I don’t believe the aforementioned two schools require before graduation. This exposure’s crucial in obtaining satisfying job opportunities. It’s not uncommon for a participating firm to hire a CSU EB intern just days before or after official completion)
–Highly professional staff. Janet Kelly’s EXTREMELY responsive (sometimes responds to emails within a matter of minutes. Let’s not forget that this lady oversees every Continuing Education dept. in some regard. To be that prompt while having consistently busy days makes the entire program that much less stressful. If you leave a voicemail, again she’ll either respond within the day or a couple days. Nonetheless, she advises people that her best contact route is through email. Again, being that explanatory and open benefits everyone), Director Dwight Dickerson’s a character with an animated, warm personality, etc.
Professors I’d recommend: Judge Blea, Ed Lai, Geoffrey Steele (hilarious guy!), Dwight Dickerson, Stuart West, Betty Cavanaugh

I finished my undergraduate degree here, and then took all my classes for my graduate degree here. It’s a small, quaint, new, clean campus with a large computer lab that is open a lot.
They tell students that this campus has all the same services as the main Hayward campus, but that ‘s not true, at least it wasn’t up until 2006. This is my reason for only 4 stars. The instructors hired for this campus are part-​time and don’t have much contact with the main campus. The administration department hours are bankers hours, they got rid of the bookstore for a couple of years — the two years of my master’s program — which really sucked for getting books and supplies. And the cafeteria was horrible and ran on less than bankers hours — however my last semester there they finally got someone decent to run it and they had just started getting decent food. But they ran on even less hours than before and their prices were twice as much.
But anyway, this is a very convenient place to get a graduate degree while working full time in the east bay and having a family, which is what I was doing along with about 95% of the rest of my classmates. Just be on top of those admin dept hours, and bring your own food.

I don’t go to school here, I just like the view from the campus– Diablo Valley all the way to the Carquinez Strait. There’s 30 minute visitor’s parking right in front of the building