Capital University News, California State University, Sacramento
November 15, 2004
Campus, CSU set records
A record number of students graduated from the California
State University system in 2003-04 academic year, including Sacramento State’s
largest-ever graduating class of 5,520.
At the system level, there were increases in both the numbers of bachelor’s
and master’s degrees. The CSU system awarded 65,743 bachelor’s degrees
in 2003-04, an increase of more than 4,000 students from 2002-03. The record
16,860 master’s degrees awarded represent an increase of 1,870. Sacramento
State’s numbers show a record 4,557 in bachelor’s degrees in 2003.
The number of master’s degree awarded was 963, down from the previous
year’s 1,024 and short of the record 1,226 set in 1998.
Overall, the number of bachelor and master’s degrees granted by the CSU’s
23 campuses rose by nearly 8 percent to 82,672, the largest increase in three
decades.
The rise in total degrees granted also reflects an increase of 1,860 in degrees
awarded to identified ethnic minority students as well as an increase of more
than 3,700 in degrees earned by women. The increase in degrees awarded was seen
across all ethnic groups.
The Chancellor’s Office suggests that the large number of graduates demonstrates
that efforts to help students move quickly to graduation are beginning to take
effect. In 2003, the CSU Board of Trustees launched its Graduation Initiative
with the three-pronged goal of increasing the preparation of high school students
entering the CSU, improving the process of transferring from a community college
to a CSU campus, and helping students already at a CSU campus graduate by providing
a straightforward path to graduation.
Currently enrolled students may be progressing faster than the 2003-04 degree
holders because they appear to be taking 12 units per term, whereas their predecessors
were below that mark.
