Humboldt State Graduation Rates Reach All-Time High, Says CSU

This is a press release from Humboldt State University:

Humboldt State University HSU ThumbnailEfforts to support students through the Graduation Initiative 2025 have led to record levels of student achievement at Humboldt State University.

A report released by the California State University system on Oct. 17 shows that Humboldt State has made good progress on five out of the six key measures for the initiative. Another measure shows limited improvement.

Statewide in the  CSU  system, graduation rates for first-time freshmen and transfer students reached all-time highs and equity gaps between students from historically underserved communities and other students narrowed.

“Ensuring the success of every student continues to be foundational to the work underway at every California State University campus,” says  CSU  Chancellor Timothy P. White. “I am extremely proud of the remarkable efforts and commitment from students, faculty and staff to achieve these gains. The  CSU  continues to be the key to a bright future for California and for those who earn high-quality college degrees here. These data demonstrate that sustained investment in the  CSU  is producing good results, and with additional financial support from the state, we can maintain this positive trajectory for students.”

The preliminary data released for Humboldt State show that since the launch of Graduation Initiative 2025:

· The four-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen has increased from 14.5 percent in 2015 to 21.9 percent in 2018 (a 51 percent increase). That is an all-time high for  HSU.

· The six-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen has increased from 45.6 percent in 2015 to 51.8 percent in 2018 (a 14 percent increase).

· The two-year graduation rate for transfer students has increased from 26.3 percent in 2015 to 37.8 percent in 2018 (a 44 percent increase).

· The four-year graduation rate for transfer students has increased from 68.5 percent in 2015 to 75.4 percent in 2018 (a 10 percent increase).

Additionally, the 2018 graduation rates indicate some progress on closing persistent equity gaps at Humboldt State:

· The graduation rate gap between Pell-eligible students and their peers narrowed from 13.4 percent in 2017 to 10.3 percent in 2018 (a 23 percent decrease).

· However, the six-year graduation rate gap between underrepresented students of color and their peers increased from 10.6 percent in 2017 to 13.7 percent in 2018 (a 29 percent increase). While the graduation rates for underrepresented students of color increased at  HSU, graduation rates for other students increased at an even higher rate, increasing the gap.

The preliminary data released for the whole  CSU  system shows that since the launch of Graduation Initiative 2025:

· The four-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen has increased from 19.2 percent in 2015 to 25.4 percent in 2018 (a 32 percent increase).

· The six-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen has increased from 57 percent in 2015 to 61.1 percent in 2018 (a 7 percent increase).

· The two-year graduation rate for transfer students has increased from 30.5 percent in 2015 to 37.6 percent in 2018 (a 23 percent increase).

· The four-year graduation rate for transfer students has increased from 72.9 percent in 2015 to 77 percent in 2018 (a 6 percent increase).

Additionally, the 2018 graduation rates indicate that the  CSU  system has begun to close persistent equity gaps:

· The six-year graduation rate gap between underrepresented students of color and their peers narrowed from 12.2 percent in 2017 to 10.5 percent in 2018 (a 14 percent decrease).

· The graduation rate gap between Pell-eligible students and their peers narrowed from 10.6 percent in 2017 to 9.5 percent in 2018 (a 10 percent decrease).

In 2018,  CSU  students earned a total of 105,431 bachelor’s degrees, representing an all-time high. The equity gaps are smaller than the previous year while the system is also enrolling a greater percentage of underrepresented and Pell eligible students.

The  CSU  has prioritized student success, investing in additional faculty, advisors and course sections, and allocating resources to proven student and academic support programs. Last year,  CSU  campuses added 4,300 new course sections opening 90,000 additional seats for students.

Graduation Initiative 2025 is a  CSU  initiative to ensure that all students have the opportunity to be successful and graduate according to their personal goals, positively impacting their future and producing additional graduates to power California and the nation.

For more information about Graduation Initiative 2025, visit the  CSU  website  A fact sheet is available  here  (pdf).

About the California State University

The California State University is the largest system of four-year higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, 50,800 faculty and staff and 484,000 students. Half of the  CSU’s students transfer from California community colleges. Created in 1960, the mission of the  CSU  is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever-changing needs of California. With its commitment to quality, opportunity, and student success, the  CSU  is renowned for superb teaching, innovative research, and producing job-ready graduates. Each year, the  CSU  awards more than 110,000 degrees. One in every 20 Americans holding a college degree is a graduate of the  CSU  system and the  CSU  has 3.4 million alumni.

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17 Comments
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Bill
Guest
Bill
5 years ago

Blah,blah,blah! I wonder what that report cost.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Bill

And what standards they lowered to make it happen? Such as courses like Genre in Films and Literature- the Zombie Film. Or Freshman Seminars- Fake News. At Berkely no less.

Kym Kemp
Admin
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

For heaven’s sakes, I graduated from Berkeley and, during my college career which spanned two years at the College of the Redwoods, I had Calculus and Chemistry , and other seriously named classes. But two of the classes that influenced my ability to think and that I continue to use (way more than either my calc or chem classes) had titles Like “Magic and MacBeth” and “Sex and sex workers in modern society.” (Note: I don’t remember their exact names just roughly what the title was like.)

A name is something exciting, innovative professors use to advertise their class to the right student. My Magic and MacBeth professor was Stephen Greenblatt a world-renowned Shakespeare scholar, still is, and my sex and sex workers class was by a nontenured teacher. Both were original thinkers that taught how to observe and think for yourself across subjects.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Yes. I totally believe that was your experience. But I don’t think that adopting a different than usual thought system, one usually espoused by the instructor who is frequently just as intolerant as anyone else and surrounded by his coterie of sycophants, qualifies as original thinking. Original thinking is just as discouraged because instructing originality takes a lot time invested in thinking with being willing to wrench thoughts out of familiar paths and find new ways. Not generally a teacher’s forte.

Kym Kemp
Admin
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

It is a good teacher’s forte. And both of the teachers I mentioned were good teachers and I’ve been fortunate to have several others.

I’m sorry that you haven’t had that experience.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Try contradicting a teacher as a student and see what happens. Try contradicting a teacher as an adult and see what happens. Teachers do not like the original thinkers at all, although that is not the what they will say. Original thinkers force the teacher to stop and think differently, which is hard work for anyone and can be time consuming. It is understandable why this happens. There are lots of students . But it does bother me that teachers are so unaware of themselves. Too many days of being surrounded by less developed thinkers tends to lead teachers into illusionary superiority.

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/lectures/rethinking-teaching.html

Seamus
Guest
Seamus
5 years ago

1 in 5 graduate in 4 years. 50% take 6 years to graduate a 4 year program? Knocking it out of the park HSU.

Angela Robinson
Guest
Angela Robinson
5 years ago
Reply to  Seamus

That isn’t uncommon, especially for public schools. Taking longer than 4 years is especially common. People have families or jobs and can’t devote to being a full time student. Or they can’t afford to be a full time student.

For Sure
Guest
5 years ago

You 3 boys are out of touch…lots of students work jobs to get through college& it takes longer. Why would you have such chips on your shoulders that you can’t have a kind comment? Sad for you.

I like stars too!
Guest
I like stars too!
5 years ago

Lets see:

About 20% graduate in 4 years?
About 50% graduate in 6 years?

Am I reading this right?

No wonder so many default on the student loans!

In my opinion, attending HSU appears to be a low value option for many students, and a higher value option, for possibly 80% of all freshmen, would be to find a school with better outcomes.

If you are a high acheiver, I hope you will attend a better quality institution! If you are a poor student, or a low achiever, or are floundering and trying to find yourself, or just feel like wasting some time, HSU could be just for you…

When shopping for a college, I hope people will look carefully at these statistics!

Kym Kemp
Admin
5 years ago

The article states, “The six-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen has increased from 57 percent in 2015 to 61.1 percent in 2018.” According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “The 6-year graduation rate…for first-time, full-time undergraduate students who began seeking a bachelor’s degree at a 4-year degree-granting institution in fall 2010 was 60 percent.” https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40

Looks like HSU is better than average on that stat.

Groba dude trustafarian osnt
Guest
Groba dude trustafarian osnt
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I took a course from a very smart guy, in 1970, called “altered states of consciousness” at UC Davis, which stays with me to this day, and I took 4 years 2 quarters and 4 summer sessions to Graduate, myself. One of my daughters got an engineering degree and a masters in 6 years even, and the other got her BS in 3 years and one semester.
It’s possible to finish in a timely manner.
Choose well and get good value.

All the stats in this story seem somewhat shocking and more like what I would expect from a Junior College.

Grad
Guest
Grad
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Why aren’t you posting my stuff?

Kym Kemp
Admin
5 years ago
Reply to  Grad

My commenting system holds posts by new commenters for moderation.

Grad
Guest
Grad
5 years ago

I have an MA from this system, and it took me many years, supporting myself and two kids, because no one else, especially their father, paid for a damn thing. What do you whiners have? So it takes some of us a while. Whose fault is that? Not the school, not necessarily the student, but at least we did it – more than you can say, based on your level of literacy. If your parents paid your freight, or you paid for your kids, more power to all, but some of us did it the hard way, so can the criticism until you can even get INTO the place.

guest
Guest
guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Grad

Unfortunately for that to be a significant factor in the stats in the article, you have to assume that most undergrad (because nothing was about grad students in the article) are working. I suspect that few undergrads are working substantially. At least it’s not been my experience and I could not find any official stats about it.

Most undergrads are funding their education with a mix of grants, loans and parental subsidies. So the fact that so many do not finish a 4 year course in 4 years means that they start work with a more substantial debt burden and/or have created more drain on other people’s resources than they should have. That does such a low percentage (21%) do complete a 4 year course in 4 years AND only 60% do a 4 year course in 6 years does say there is a real problem. Especially since CSU is touting those low rates as an improvement. This is not 60% of students completing a 6 year course- this 80% not completing a 4 year course in 4 years. Important as spending more money than necessary to get the education can not be good for anyone.

Either students are not focussed on making good use of their time or the institution is not providing the courses they need to graduate timely. This idea shouldn’t be taken as a personal insult by any indivual but as a systemic problem needing attention. And, personally, if there is one misuse of education that rubs the wrong way, it’s arrogantly dismissing people by saying more degrees means more intelligent. The most stimulating thinker I ever met was a janitor without a high school degree who simply liked going his own way. On the other hand, some of the most rigid foolishness I have ever experienced has come from people with a number of degrees.

Canyon oak
Guest
Canyon oak
5 years ago

Suffering for paper and status doesn’t make make ones experience anymore profound than the life of a”dumb”(right?)retail clerk.
Maybe more pious, more pompous, but not necessarily.
The rising rate of Single parenthood though, is very profound, and has made a major cultural splash in the last 50 years.
The affects are still materializing(I’m one of them) and the causes are pretty obvious.
Economic stress
Cultural degradation
Evaporation of peer pressure
Individual freedom
Gender antipathy
Deconstruction of extended & nuclear family architecture.
Decline in responsibility
Recklessness, rebellion
Poor mate selection