The 1970 power increase shut out a proposal by the Mexican-American Communication Foundation to build a station on the frequency in East Los Angeles.

The format switch was controversial, earning the station additional donations but alienating it from its student body base.

[5] The station also took fire from students who worried that they had less and less of a role in its operation as professional staff were added, in part because KCSN received Corporation for Public Broadcasting grants.

[6] In November 1989, two months after classical music station KFAC-FM (92.3) was sold to Evergreen Media and flipped to a "rock with a beat" format, KCSN made a play for those listeners and went all-classical, drawing the ire of the country fans.

[10] Subsequently, Jackson Browne,[11] The Rides, Ryan Adams, Conor Oberst, David Gray, Sarah McLachlan,[12] and Bonnie Raitt[13] performed at the station's annual benefit concerts.

[16] On September 6, 2017, California State University, Northridge and Saddleback College, owner of Mission Viejo–based KSBR, announced the merger of their respective radio stations.

[17] On September 12 at 10 a.m. PDT, the FM and HD1 signals of both stations began simulcasting KCSN's pre-existing "smart rock" AAA format, while KSBR's jazz programming would move to their HD2 channels.

[18] On March 21, 2018, 88.5 FM announced that former KSWD (100.3 The Sound) radio personality Andy Chanley would host afternoon drive, taking over for Sky Daniels who continued as General Manager and Program Director.

KCSN also mentors California State University, Northridge students in broadcasting, music industry, audio engineering and news production.