Cal State Schools’ Average Four-Year Graduation Rate Lower Than National Average

REBECCA ZENG
News Editor
MICHELLE LIN
Staff Writer

On average, less than one in five students entering a California State University (CSU) campus as a freshman earn a bachelor’s degree in four years, according to Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed budget plan for 2016-17. This is below the national average of 34 percent for public universities. In addition, 16 out of 23 CSU campuses have four-year graduation rates that are below the CSU average of 19 percent.

“It’s really surprising, because I didn’t expect it to be that low. I thought it would have been at least 60 percent,” sophomore Aaron Robles said.

On Jan. 7, Governor Jerry Brown presented his 2016-17 budget proposal to increase funding for CSU schools in an effort to improve graduation rates and implement more balance in campus diversity. Brown’s proposal included information on the CSU campuses’ four year graduation rates and revealed that while three CSU campuses, San Diego, Maritime Academy and San Luis Obispo, met or exceeded the national average of four year graduates, the other 20 CSU campuses did not meet the national average.

Some may argue that the four-year graduation rate is not an indicator of a school’s performance.

“Schools should be rated on how much effort teachers put into teaching and how much effort students put into learning, instead of the percentage of four-year graduates,” freshman Bibianna Godinez said.

However, students who are working part-time and simultaneously balancing classes may require more than four years to graduate; thus, the four year graduation rate can be argued to be an inaccurate reflection of a school’s level of competence, according to the L.A. Times.

“Schools’ success and performance shouldn’t be determined by the four-year graduate rate. Instead, factors such as employment, personal family situations and difficulty in getting classes contribute to the low average,” senior Aleida Yu said.

Various reasons, such as unavailable classes or lack of decisiveness in choosing a major, can lead to additional years in college. To remedy this, Vice President of Student Affairs at CSU Dominguez Hills William Franklin said that investments in peer mentoring as well as advising programs are helpful to increasing the four year graduation rate, according to the L.A. Times.