CSULB Awarded for Increase in Grad Rates

Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) has been honored with a national Excellence and Innovation Award for increasing graduation rates. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) announced the inaugural winners in the new awards program honoring member institutions in several major areas of campus life and leadership.

CSULB’s Highly Valued Degree initiative, which combines a wide variety of proven strategies for enhancing student success into a comprehensive approach to institutional transformation, was specifically cited for its success.

The results of this initiative have been dramatic. Rates for first-time freshman graduation have risen by more than 20 percentage points from below 40 to 60 percent.

These gains have reached all ethnic and gender subgroups. Graduation rates for transfers have also reached an all-time high. The graduation rates for 2012-13 was at 60 percent in the 2013-14 year, the graduation rate continued to rise to 64 percent.

Criteria for the winning entries in the awards competition require evidence of top-level administrative support, connection with an institution’s mission and strategic agenda, evidence the initiative contributed to significant institutional improvements or programming and evidence the initiative was grounded in research and incorporated best practices.

AASCU is a Washington, D.C., based higher education association of more than 400 public colleges, universities and systems whose members share a culture centered on learning and teaching, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development.

regions: Los Angeles

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