California State University is embarking on an ambitious initiative to raise its graduation rates and help more low-income and minority students earn degrees, even as it faces perhaps the grimmest budget outlook in its history.
The university is setting a goal of boosting its six-year graduation rate by 8% by 2016, bringing it to 54%, in line with the top national averages at similar institutions. University leaders say they hope to raise graduation rates for underrepresented minority students by 10%, cutting in half what has been a thorny achievement gap in degree completion compared with white students.
The university is scheduled to unveil the initiative today at a meeting of its Board of Trustees in Long Beach. The plan is part of a nationwide project by a consortium of public university leaders, the National Assn. of System Heads and the Education Trust, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Cal State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed, who is also president of the system heads group, previewed the initiative for U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan last week.
Cal State is the nation's largest university system, with 450,000 students and about 90,000 graduates each year. The goal of the new project is to increase the number of graduates by 7,000 or 8,000 students annually.
Each of Cal State's 23 campuses is working to finalize comprehensive plans that would be implemented beginning this fall, Reed said in an interview this week. The initiative could fundamentally change the educational experience of students, offering more individualized support but limiting many of the choices they have traditionally enjoyed.
Measures under consideration include reducing the number of general education courses needed to graduate and restricting students' ability to withdraw from a class or change a major. Campuses may also try various remedies to keep students on track toward a degree, including audits of their progress, mandatory advising sessions and fee rebates for students who graduate on time.
The feasibility of implementing such change in the grip of a budget crisis remains to be seen. The cost over the next six years has not been calculated, Reed said. But moving students more quickly through the system saves money, and many campuses already were beginning to address that issue in response to budget cuts.
