CSUN University News Clippings

University graduates in U.S. decline

(December 3, 2008)

By Jean Cowden Moore

The United States, once a world leader in producing university graduates, is falling behind other countries in getting students ready for, into and through college.

Beyond that, there is still a significant gap in who goes to college and who doesn’t — a gap based on race, income and geography.

Those are key findings from “Measuring Up 2008,” a national report card that grades states on measures such as college preparation, participation, affordability and completion. States’ grades are based on how they perform when compared with the top-rated states in each category.

The report, released today, is issued every two years by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

The findings are especially troubling as the United States fights to remain competitive in today’s global economy, said Pat Callan, president of the center. Internationally, the United States has fallen to 10th in the percentage of young adults who have an associate degree or higher.

In addition, baby boomers, the best-educated generation in U.S. history, are retiring, creating a need for more college graduates, Callan said.

“We’ve made some modest gains, but that progress does not begin to match the challenges we face, or the progress other countries are making,” he said.

One of those challenges is the cost of college, which continues to rise, even as family income has flattened. Students from well-off families are far more likely to go to college than students from poor households, according to the report.

Among families earning $100,000 or more, 91 percent of students go to college. That number drops to 78 percent among middle-income families ($50,000 to $100,000). And for families earning less than $20,000 a year, it’s 52 percent.

“We need a new social contract about tuition,” Callan said. “It’s a political football that discourages low-income people from attending college and middle-income people from saving for it.”

California got mostly C’s on its report card, although it scored higher than any other state on affordability because community college fees here are so low.

That doesn’t mean the state’s four-year colleges are affordable. Poor and working-class families must spend 40 percent of their income, even after financial aid, to send their children to a four-year public university, the report says.

The state also got a C in participation, primarily because there is such a disparity in the percentage of white and Latino students who go to college. While 45 percent of white young adults in California are enrolled in college, only 27 percent of Latino students are enrolled, according to the report.

That disparity could widen as the CSU system limits enrollment next year because of state budget cuts. That move is expected to have the biggest impact on minority students and those who are the first in their families to go to college, because those two groups tend to be less familiar with the application process.

“States should take any step, rather than close college doors,” Callan said. “California has been the most ruthless about cutting enrollment during a recession.”

The state did somewhat better on college completion, earning a B-minus. About 62 percent of the state’s college students get their bachelor’s degrees within six years. The gap between white and Latino students, however, persists in this category, too. Two-thirds of white students graduate within six years, compared with 53 percent of Latinos.

Ventura County universities are working to address some of the issues. CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo, for example, works closely with local high schools through several programs to encourage low-income, minority and first-generation students to go to college and make sure they know and meet academic requirements.

The university also participates in the national Educational Opportunity Program, which provides support for students once they get to college.

“We begin these partnerships early,” said Jane Sweetland, CSUCI dean of enrollment services. “We catch kids before they fail and give them a support network.”

California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks has a program that allows students to attend the private university for the cost of a public school. Under the CLU Guarantee Scholarship, students admitted to either UCLA or UC Santa Barbara can attend CLU for the same price.

CLU also offers an extended summer orientation program for students who are the first in their families to attend college, or who come from low-income households.

In addition, the college has a new office of retention, aimed at tracking and supporting students at risk of dropping out.

“We’re getting a new mix of students, so the needs change,” said Matthew Ward, CLU vice president for enrollment management. “The assumptions we previously had about what students need will have to be turned on their head.”

Publication: Ventura County Star