The paper presents a summary of the California Launch Vehicle Education Initiative (CALVEIN) and focuses on its propulsion aspects. CALVEIN was established at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) in partnership with Garvey Spacecraft Corporation (GSC) in 2001. The first experience included the student development of two 1000 lbf thrust ablative rocket engines using LOX and ethanol. The engines powered the CSULB Prospector rockets P-1 and P-2 which were launched and recovered in June 2001 and Feb. 2002, respectively. One of the components of CALVEIN is an Aerospace System Design curriculum, which, in one year, takes the students through the product development cycle, from requirement definition to the manufacture and test of an aerospace product. The curriculum was applied to the development of a 1000 lbf annular aerospike engine and of a thrust vector control (TVC) system. The student designs and tests are presented. The aerospike engine operated successfully for 200 ms after which the spike nozzle structurally failed. The TVC system is being completed and the aerospike engine is being revised. The paper ends with a summary of the lessons learned and of the benefits of such industry/academia partnerships.