Cal State Long Beach may see its largest rate of graduating students in its 58-year history.
According to CSULB President F. King Alexander, the projected graduation rate for this year is 52 percent, but the official numbers won’t be known until August.
“We will not have the official numbers [until August], but in fact, initial projections show we’re going to have the highest graduation rate in our history,” Alexander said.
If the numbers add up, this will be the highest graduation rate in CSULB history, surpassing last year’s record of 47 percent.
“We’re estimating that we might hit 52 percent, which is one of the biggest single year jumps we’ve had,” Alexander said. “But more importantly we’ve never been over 50 [percent] as a university.”
According to Alexander, the graduation rate considers those students who completed their degrees in six years. Alexander said CSULB also keeps an eye on those students who have transferred.
“We’re tracking our students that move on,” Alexander said. “They may have moved because of jobs and go to Fullerton or finish at Fullerton. If you follow all of our students, we’ve got about a 65 percent graduation rate of all of our students.”
Alexander said it was a coming together that helped raise the graduation rates.
“The students, faculty and staff have all joined in focusing on not just enrolling students, but graduating the ones we have,” he said.
“We spent 30 years in higher education thinking that enrolling students was what we had to do, and I think the real issue is that if we’re going to enroll a student, convince them to come to our school, we have to help them in any way possible to graduate.”
University finances, however, have not been as positive. CSULB has had to face the prospect of state cuts to public higher education, handed down from the governor’s office in 2007. The proposed budget slated $312.9 million to be cut from the California State University system for the 2008-09 academic year.
“It’s been a bad state budget year,” Alexander said. “Revenues are down.”
According to Alexander, the initial governor’s budgets didn’t recognize the difference between investments and state expenditures. Alexander emphasized the need for creativity to solve the complex dilemma the state is in by “looking for alternative ways to tax the general populous while making legit cuts that might be necessary during this period.”
He added that the May revision of the budget showed progress, but all it did was restore money that had been taken away from higher education in January.
“We still think it’s progress,” Alexander said, “that they restored what they cut, but at the same time they’re still not funding greater access. They’re still not providing to help our students succeed better in college.”
Though the budget might not be known until November, according to Alexander, construction projects that have already been funded will not be affected.
“We’ll have more construction going on next year than in the history of our university,” Alexander said.
The projects include the demolition of Peterson Hall 3, which will be taken down the day after graduation.
“If you’re around it’s going to be loud,” Alexander said. “I’m getting ready for the barrage of letters from our neighbors.”
Alexander also said that the year set a record for fundraising. The administration had a goal of raising $30 million, and expects to finish the year with about $32 million to $33 million. Alexander says they also plan to raise even more next year.
