With thousands of students affected by Hurricane Katrina forced to improvise on their fall-semester plans, many are inquiring about taking classes elsewhere. Some of those students will be able to call California State University, Monterey Bay their new academic home, if they choose. CSU officials said the system stands ready to accommodate California residents who had planned to attend Gulf Coast schools, as well as out-of-state students from campuses that lay within areas affected by the devastating storm. "We will do what we can, as fast as we can, to help out these students and their families," Cal State Chancellor Charles B. Reed said in a news release. Students from Gulf Coast areas where the hurricane struck will be exempt from non-resident fees. The standard CSU fees will be required, but not immediately. The campus will provide deferred payment plans. Resident fees for the school year are $3,000. Room and board add approximately $7,000 to the cost. Even those without proper academic documentation - transcripts and placement tests - will be accepted on a conditional basis. Since CSUMB has already completed a week of the semester, newly arriving students will be ushered through the advising and registration process to get them right into classes. "We will assist students on a case-by-case basis," said Dennis Geyer, director of Admissions and Records. "We will take applications over the phone and help these students through every step of the process." Sept. 19 is the last day to apply. At that point, students would be coming to campus four weeks into the semester. But, "our faculty has expressed a willingness to do everything they can to help these students catch up on the work they will have missed, and to help them succeed," said David Anderson, dean of the College of Professional Studies. Approximately 30 two-year and four-year campuses serving an estimated 150,000 students are located in the affected areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Dozens of colleges around the country said they would help displaced students find spaces, have extended deadlines, waived application fees and promised to streamline paperwork. The federal Education Department also pledged to relax student-loan guidelines to help transferring students. A phone number -- (831) 582-3580 -- has been set up for students affected by the hurricane and interested in coming to CSUMB. E-mail can be sent to admissions@csumb.edu