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blog post

Testimony: Closing California’s Degree Gap

By Hans Johnson

The most promising approach to closing the workforce skills gap is to concentrate on improving the educational attainment of California residents.

blog post

Immigration: What’s Next in California?

By Joseph Hayes, Laura Hill

More than one million Californians could be affected by President Obama’s executive order on immigration. Knowing where qualified undocumented immigrants live is essential to realizing the potential gains both to the state and to the immigrants themselves.

blog post

Serving California’s Diverse College Students

By Sergio Sanchez, Hans Johnson

California is enrolling more historically underserved students in the state's public higher education systems, but helping them to graduate in four years remains a big challenge.

blog post

Year-Round Support for Low-Income Students

By Courtney Lee

Pell Grants covered the summer months this year, expanding summer course enrollment and potentially increasing retention rates and accelerating time to degree.

Report

Improving College Graduation Rates: A Closer Look at California State University

By Kevin Cook, Jacob Jackson

Low college graduation rates come at a high cost—lower salaries, lower tax revenue, and fewer college graduates in the workforce. At California State University (CSU), the nation's largest university system, graduation rates have an outsized financial and economic impact on students and the state.

CSU has made strides in improving graduation rates, but there is more work to be done. The system continues to struggle with graduation gaps—underrepresented students are much less likely to complete their degree compared to their peers, and these gaps have not narrowed over time. Also, CSU's on-time (four-year) graduation rates still lag behind those of similar universities nationwide.

By 2025, CSU aims to further increase graduation rates while cutting graduation gaps in half. To assist campus planning for this goal, we identify several promising programs and policies. More broadly, the CSU Chancellor's Office must work with campuses to evaluate and expand successful efforts, and the state must play a role in supporting new policies to move the needle on graduation gaps and on-time graduation.

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