SAN MARCOS -- Cal State San Marcos administrators said Thursday they will know in several weeks how many students they may have to turn away next year as a result of the CSU chancellor's order earlier in the day to limit enrollment.

The directive could force the four-year university system to turn away as many as 10,000 students in the 2009-10 academic year, the administrators said.

Reacting to the news, CSUSM officials reiterated their previously stated position that North County students who hope to attend the university can greatly improve their chances of being admitted next fall if they submit their applications by Nov. 30.

University spokeswoman Margaret Lutz said those who meet both the "priority application" deadline and basic admissions requirement are guaranteed admission.

"After that, we can't guarantee it," she said.

Students from other parts of the county or the state who hope to attend the campus also are likely to face higher admissions standards. Those could include higher grade point averages or a wait list, Lutz said.

"If they live locally, the (existing) criteria applies to them -- if they have a 'B' average and they've met the admissions requirements, they're fine," she said. "It's students that don't live locally or don't meet those admissions requirements that have to worry."

CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed's order applies to all 23 CSU system campuses.

A response to midyear budget cuts proposed by the state, Reed's directive created a situation where the system may have to turn away students who meet admissions requirements, for the first time in CSU's history.

Roughly 450,000 students are enrolled at CSU campuses throughout the state.

Reed's order also may mean higher admission requirements for students who want to attend a CSU campus outside their "home" service area in the 2009-10 school year.

Darren Bush, associate vice president of enrollment management services at the San Marcos campus, said administrators there need to meet with the chancellor to discuss specifics about what Reed's order means for CSUSM.

The number of applications received by the Nov. 30 deadline also will help determine how many students do not get in, he said.

"Once we have that pool of applicants, then we will begin to sort that pool by area of service and nonlocal service area applications," said Bush. "And we'll see where we're at."

CSUSM's service area runs from Highway 56 north to the Mission Viejo area on the coast and to the Lake Elsinore-Murrieta area inland.

If higher admissions standards are adopted, they would affect non-North County students trying to enroll at Cal State San Marcos.

The same goes for North County students seeking to enroll at San Diego State University, Cal State Long Beach or other CSU campuses.

The timing of Reed's order is particularly bad for CSUSM because it has seen the number of applications coming in for the next year jump significantly. As of Wednesday, Lutz said, the application pool for next fall was 40 percent larger than at the same point last year.

The push for early applications may be a factor. However, university officials have also said they believe the sagging economy is making college attendance more attractive to many people.

Lutz and Bush said Thursday that Reed's directive has left CSUSM administrators worried that the campus will be unable to fulfill its mission of giving as many students as possible access to higher education.

"But certainly in the context of the overall budget situation, it is understandable," Bush said. "And we are going to do what we can to make it work."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.