At the request of the California State University Chancellor’s Office, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Orfalea College of Business pulled the plug Friday on plans to offer a master’s of business administration program in Santa Barbara.

Instead, the Cal State Channel Islands campus may serve the Santa Barbara market for an MBA program, since it’s closer to the area, Cal State University officials said in a news release.

Students who filed applications for the MBA program will receive a refund of the application fee.

“Our goal was to offer a self-supporting program that would complement and supplement — not duplicate — existing programs in the area,” said Dave Christy, dean of the Orfalea College of Business. “At the same time, the concerns of the chancellor’s office regarding proximity to CSU Channel Islands cannot be disregarded, and we all share the same desire to provide Californians access to high-quality programs.”

Cal Poly’s college of business is named for Al and Virginia Orfalea, parents of Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinko’s, who along with his wife, Natalie, donated $15 million to the school.

Cal Poly’s Santa Barbara courses were to begin this fall.

The college planned to offer an evening program for working professionals to earn an MBA in two years. Two-thirds of the class content was to be conducted live at the Canary Hotel, and the other third of the content to be delivered to students through online content.

The classes that were to be offered were managerial finance and the legal and regulatory environment of business.

— Noozhawk contributor Ray Estrada can be reached at news@noozhawk.com.