CSU Monterey Bay has gotten a prominent mention by a blogger for the Huffington Post. Danielle Wiener-Bronner, who writes about higher education issues for the website, included the university on a list of nine “Forward-Thinking Colleges."

“There are myriad colleges and universities that exhibit what the future of higher education looks like. Some are new and some more established, but all nine of the schools mentioned below are distinctive in some way – and are worth watching in 2011,” the blog’s introduction says.

“When Cal State Monterey Bay was founded in 1994, it called itself ‘the 21st campus for the 21st century,’ and has proven to be as forward-thinking as promised. The state college – which encourages students of low socio-economic backgrounds to enroll and offers around 70 percent of undergrads financial aid – requires each student to conduct a capstone research project and put together a skills portfolio before graduation,” the university’s entry says.

Among other schools on the list are Evergreen State College in Washington, Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts, Florida A&M and the Global College of Long Island University.

To list is available here.