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CSULB Student Success Efforts:  Overview

February 4, 2010

 

In January 2010 the Chancellor’s Office launched an initiative to increase graduation rates of CSU students. CSULB graduation rates have been improving for more than a decade.

  • From 1996 to 2009 CSULB’s overall six-year freshman graduation rate nearly doubled to about 54%
  • The African American rate more than tripled to 46%, the largest gain of any subgroup.
  • Latino and Asian rates more than doubled to 46% and 55%, respectively.
  • Rates for Native Americans and white students increased to 61% and 59%, about one and one half times earlier levels.
  • Females increased to 55% and males more than doubled to 50%.

From a position of below CSU averages in the early 1990s, CSULB’s decade of increase now places our campus fourth in the most recent compilation of figures, virtually tied with Chico but behind San Diego and San Luis Obispo.

  • CSULB is about 6.5% above the CSU average for all students and well above CSU averages for all ethnic and gender groups.
  • CSULB is about 18% above the system average for African American students, 5% above for Latinos, 4.5% above for Asians, 6% above for Native Americans, and 4.5% above for white students.
  • CSULB is about 6.5% above for females but 5% above for males.

CSULB’s graduation rates compare well to the latest available national data (from 2007). Campus rates for 2007 were above the average of 75 similar public Master’s institutions and CSULB increases since then are estimated to place the university among the top 10 percent of these institutions not only in overall graduation rate but also in rates for underrepresented students, for Latinos, African-Americans, and white students. For Asian and Asian-American students, increases are estimated to place the university among the top 20 percent.*

Building on Student Success

CSULB’s response to the Chancellor’s initiative builds on student success initiatives we already have in place.

The CSU Graduation Initiative and our strategic planning goals call on us to increase our six-year graduation rate to 58 percent by 2012 and to reduce achievement gaps for low-income and underrepresented minority students.

Five task forces have been formed to support ongoing programs and identify new strategies and initiatives while sustaining the quality and value of our degrees. Vice Provost David Dowell and Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Studies Lynn Mahoney are leading this initiative.

  • The Task Force on Curriculum Pathways will identify reasons why average units at graduation for CSULB students (currently around 147) are so high and identify ways to simplify requirements and reduce excess units, giving specific attention to low income and underrepresented minority students.
  • The Task Force on Support Services will identify student support needs, giving specific attention to needs of low income and underrepresented minority students.
  • The Task Force on Advising has the goal of ensuring that all students, especially low income and underrepresented minority students receive needed advising.
  • The Task Force on Faculty Development will identify the most effective instructional methods that contribute to retention and learning, especially for low income and underrepresented minority students.
  • The Research and Evaluation Task Force will support the other task forces with data.

*Comparisons are drawn from College Results Online, a compilation of federal graduation rates data and include most recent 2007 data on seventy-five public master’s institutions from across the nation with student related expenditures per total full time equivalent students of $7-9,000 per student -- similar to CSULB’s $8,069-- and percentage of Pell students of 30% or more -- similar to CSULB’s 33%.

 

Learn More About CSULB's Student Success Efforts

 

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