CSU Graduation Initiative
Each year, the 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU) graduate more than 90,000 students
– the most of any public university system in the nation. Still, California faces a projected shortfall of
more than one million college graduates needed to serve its economy by 2025. Policymakers,
administrators and faculty agree that an important strategy for meeting this challenge is improving
college graduation rates.
Outreach Key to Improving Graduation Rates
The CSU has implemented a broad array of programs and partnerships designed to engage students
from elementary school all the way through high school. The aim is to inform students and their families
about the pathway to college, help students apply and qualify for admission and improve their readiness
once they enroll in university courses. Ensuring that students are aware of and prepared for the rigors of
college is the key to improving their chances for succeeding once on our campuses.
Methods to Improve Graduation Rates
Methods
Related CSU Program
Reduce Remediation
Early Assessment Program
Needs
& Early Start
Increase Clarity of
Degree Pathways
AA Transfer Degree
Reduce Bottleneck
Courses
Expanded online course
availability
Objectives of the Graduation Initiative
In concert with programs to increase qualified applicants and
improve college-readiness, the CSU launched the Graduation
Initiative in 2010, aimed at increasing the number of students
who reach their goal of degree completion. The initiative also
seeks to reduce the achievement gap between students from
Underrepresented Minorities and those from NonUnderrepresented Minorities.
What Happens When Graduation
Rates Improve?



Systemwide, the Graduation Initiative seeks to increase the sixyear graduation rate by eight percentage points (from 46% to
54%) and reduce the achievement gap by half (from 11% to 5.5%)
by 2015. The targets for increasing graduation rates are
established by each campus when comparing themselves to the
top quartile of national averages of similar institutions. If a CSU
campus is already within the top quartile, it has committed to
increasing graduation rates by an additional six percentage points.

Increased number of degreed
applicants enter state workforce
More residents who have a greater
earning capacity
Increased access for new college
applicants
Reduced “time to degree,” which
reduces costs for students and
taxpayers
How the Graduation Initiative Works
Through the CSU Chancellor’s Office, the CSU has established a systemwide implementation team and
identified eight common areas of academic focus around which each campus has developed an
implementation plan: academic engagement, advising, curriculum pathways, degree requirements,
faculty development, leadership, research and evaluation, and support services.
Each campus has an initiative team made up of faculty, students, administrators and staff. Common
elements of campus plans include degree audits and “early warning” advising for students, first-year
experience programs and roadmaps to graduation for all incoming students.
Campus Action
By using data, campuses can identify the areas in which students tend to stall in their path to
graduation. Several campuses, including CSU Long Beach, Monterey Bay and Northridge, have created
freshmen cohorts and mandatory advising in order to put students on the right path their first year. In
addition, campuses such as CSU East Bay have instituted Peer Mentors which partner up freshmen with
other upperclassmen as a resource for them to stay the course. In addition, campuses are also tackling
the issue of graduation by identifying those students the university considers “super seniors”, students
who have accumulated more units than are necessary to graduate. Campuses are working directly with
these students to work through any roadblocks they may have towards graduation and develop a plan
for degree attainment.
Progress to Date
Initial results have been positive, but student success efforts are complex and non-linear and there is no
single trajectory of historical data that can accurately project whether the graduation targets will be
reached by 2015. Measurements to date indicate that all student groups are doing better, and CSU is
graduating more students within six years than ever before. As measured against the baseline of 46
percent for the 2000 year, graduation rates for students in the 2004-2010 cohorts have increased to 52
percent. The rate of freshmen who continue on to the following year has also increased each year
between 2008 and 2010 for all groups.