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CSULB Defends Graduation Rate Against 'Hall Of Shame' Website by Ryan ZumMallen | Archive | 09.02.10 |
+  3:30pm | After classes opened for the Fall semester just this week with California State University Long Beach drawing favorable rankings in both the U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, an independent website called GradRate.com has called the university’s graduation rate into question by naming CSULB to its College Hall of Shame list. The website, created and operated by a Minnesota man named Dave Happe who compiled his findings while researching colleges for his daughter, lists one university from each state which it has determined has the worst graduation rate. CSULB was the school chosen from California, using statistics from the U.S. Department of Education showing a 13% four-year graduation rate and a 54% six-year graduation rate. Full disclosure: I am actually a member of that 2003 Freshman class and am also part of that 54% rate that earned degrees in six years or less (it took me five). A press release from CSULB quickly denounced the report and President F. King Alexander called the website “a poorly educated operation” in a statement. “There is no way the people at GradRate.com could have used the U.S. Department of Education’s statistics and concluded that Cal State Long Beach has the lowest graduation rate of all mid-size and large institutions in California,” Alexander continued. “There are more than 20 campuses in California that have at least 8,000 (FTE) students or more, and our graduation rate is nowhere near the lowest.” The school is quite proud of their graduation rate, which was recently praised in a national education report that noted it had increased by more than 20% from 2002 to 2006. The school reached its current 54% graduation rate in 2007 and did so with the same number of students utilizing Pell Grants, which are based on financial need. Statistically, CSULB actually has the fourth-highest graduation rate in a CSU system with more than 20 universities. Happe readily admits that he’s not an expert – in fact, he attended but never graduated from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, which also made the list – and his method for determining the Hall Of Shame list is not scientific. For starters, he looked only to mid- to large-population universities, usually above 8,000 students (the U.S. Department of Education lists CSULB with more than 35,000). Second, Happe focused less on the actual graduation rate and more on how many total students were not graduating from that school. For a school with a massive student population like CSULB, that was enough to earn them a spot on the list despite having what most would deem a favorable graduation rate. “I’m trying to put some dialogue out there,” Happe said in a phone interview. “I don’t have solutions, I’m not an educator. But the data itself is not disputable. The best question for educators is, what do we do with this?” Whether the GradRate.com system is perfect or not, it does beg the question, Just what is an acceptable graduation rate? Happe says that in asking around, most people he spoke with estimated that about a 75% rate would be acceptable. Some of the schools on the College Hall of Shame list graduated less than 10% in four years and less than 30% in six years. Southern University in New Hampshire had the lowest six-year rate with 7%, while South Connecticut State graduated just 1% of students in four years. “A 1% graduation rate I think we would all agree is not appropriate,” Happe told the LBPOST.com. The university sent a letter to GradRate.com which challenged its methodology for determining graduation rates, because of allegedly incorrect transfer statistics (CSULB and CollegeResults.org say 27.4%, the U.S. Department of Education says 4%). CSULB spokesperson Rick Gloady says that there is no standard method of reporting transfer rates and only about half of national universities do so at all. Happe has said he will correct his Hall Of Shame list if CSULB can prove their transfer rate claims. CSULB also took issue with the fact that GradRate.com applied the graduation rate of one Freshman class to the school’s entire student population. “[GradRate.com] have ignored all the national and state rankings and randomly selected institutions not because they are the worst as they proclaim, but for some unknown reason that has little to do with the facts in each state,” President Alexander said. Happe is standing by his list, however. “Long Beach has more kids paying tuition and walking out the door without a degree than any other school we looked at,” he said in an e-mail.
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18 Comments so far.
bryceland An un-credentialed non-educator conducts an admittedly unscientific study...why are we paying any attention to his "findings"? KJ Can someone please explain to me why graduation rates are important? If a school has low graduation rates, might that mean it is more difficult and more prestigious OR that the school is hopelessly difficult for no reason? Might a school with a high graduation rate be graduating lots of "C" students and not very many good ones, OR that they have a lot of good students whereby even the worst are above average? In either case, isn't the graduation rate meaningless? Please explain? PKL We are paying attention because it is true! Especially now with all the budget cuts, higher costs, fewer classes, and cutting the enrollment. SailorSam Let's see... it took me 20 years and 4 schools to get my AA. After starting school, I started modelling and travel thru Europe before coming back, changing schools, going to work and generally growing up. Finally, in my late 30's, I decided to get my BS-BIS degree from CSULA while working full time. It took me about 6 more years. Then I went for my MS-MIS. So, does my lack of focus make my choice of schools look bad because I DIDN'T graduate in 4 years? In addition, CSULB is in a working class neighborhood. You know, the kind where the student has to supplement any educational funds he might/or might not receive from his parents or the government. With the high cost of college education these days (which is still going up), is it any wonder that students don't complete their education in 4 years. I understand the way some students afford college is by stretching our the classes over a longer period of time. asdfzk I'm in my 6th year at CSULB and unless they force me out I'll be there for a 7th year. Brad So you just make up your own unscientific study, pick some numbers that don't mean anything, then create a website and say "hey everyone, look at my research!" Absolutely ridiculous!!! Ryan - why are you covering a story like this? Slow news day? If i pull together some random numbers and throw them together however I see fit, are you going to spotlight my assertions too? Birdman of long beach Problem solved - I conducted my own survey and the good news is - CSULB - Came out on top. Angel Mr. Happe admits that he's not an expert and never graduated from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and apparently utilized an unscientific method for determining "his" Hall Of Shame. Does this deserve any creditability or attention? But I do feel that in these tough economic times, our students need increased financial support to ensure their academic success! cslubgrad I was warned not to go to csulb, the warnings were correct. The professors are generally good, but the administration absolutely sucks. After experiencing that administration I can easily believer the administration likes milking students, that is, not graduating them to have them stay in school longer, increase school attendance, and make more money off of them in that way. And in response to certain comments I see here; CSULB is not supposed to be a "prestigious" school, just a "good school," but the administration is making it look like a bad school. Graduation rates are a statistical fact, and hard to say are invalid. Happe's list is simple and speaks volumes. King Alexander and all the rest there running CSULB do a bad job, I'd say, completely disconnected from reality. Alexander's comment show he is still in denial, and a true politician, not a straight shooter. And he can afford to be such with such ignorant support from his cronies. Good for Happe, he did what any good citizen should do, his homework. His report is fair and honest. That is the fact. And, in closing, here's a thought for the day: Why is a CSU president like F. King Alexander paid twice as much as the California governor as a wage? KJ @"CSLUBGRAD": My point is, even if CSULB is supposed to be "just a good school," why does the graduation rate mean anything? It might take some people six, it might take others shorter. I know many that it took 4. My sister did it in three and a half (within the last ten years). Might there be an underlying assumption here that universities are expected to graduate everyone that they accept? And, is this assumption along the lines of accepting social promotion, rather than academic promotion? Why is it the assumption that the university is responsible for graduating students in four years, or at all? What about student achievement? What about other conditions (economic, political, cultural, "high school deficiencies," etc.) that are well beyond the university's reach? Not sure graduation rates are all that relevant. proud grad Ah, CSLUBGRAD...I hope you realize how lucky to have been admitted into any college with those writing skills. Irish Eyes 13% of the students at Long Beach graduate in four years? Nobody sees an enormous problem here? Phil It took me 8 1/2 years to graduate from CSULB but I had a full time job and a family. Does this mean that the school was not that good? I would say that since I was able to eventually graduate, it was very good. jen I go to csulb and I concur with the websites findings... our school is a mess and the programs are bloated to justify out of date profs and classes irrelavent to the real world work environment... I have been here way too long and they have tried to kick me out with nothing... I just want to graduate but getting kicked off financial aid and out of classes because of capped enrollment makes that a bit hard now doesn't it? Ought csulbgrad: If you had a bad experience, maybe it was YOU??? Also, your comments about administrators wanting to keep students from graduating doesn't make any sense. CSULB turns away thousands of students each year. Do your homework (maybe that's why you didn't like it there?) jessica I'm in my 6th year it will take me 7 for a supposed 4 yr degeree. I have a 3.5 gpa kicked off financial aid, tried to kick me out all together last semester and I'm a national champ on a scholastic team. Csulb has just made me sad, I was proud now I'm just sad about my experience. ber It will take me 7 yr to get two 4 yr degrees from csulb. They have made it hell to try and graduate and I have been kicked and cut from too many things to count... but I'm glad I'm in school. Its still a brilliant campus. Paul Like most, I look at my own experience. That is a true survey of one. I graduated in four years plus a quarter. That was over 40 years ago. Held as many as three jobs and full loads most of the time. The more I worked, the better the grades, since frat time was less for party. Advice is: don't stretch it out. To those who go to a state school, costs are not that much? I was a healthy young man with the work ethic, and did not give a hoot about victimization, that holds so many back. You are "owed" nothing in life. Do your best. Not all can, but too many want to be victims, and not Someone. That is the overwhelming theme of today's schools that produce a lot of, "Progressive/Victims. Just do your best is all that can be asked. Yes, protest true injustice, but don't manufacture it. I agree that the administration is corrupt, so much now, that the whole system needs to be junked.
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Ryan ZumMallen has served as the managing editor of the LBPOST.com since 2007. He graduated from CSULB with a degree in Print Journalism in 2008 and is a member of the 2009 class of Leadership Long Beach. You can find him on various basketball courts around the city.
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