Worried about an expected shortage of bachelor’s degrees in the state, California State University Chancellor Timothy White announced a $50 million plan Wednesday to increase the number of graduates it produces every year.
In his “State of the CSU” address – the first of its kind– White said the $50 million would go toward recruiting more tenure-track faculty, expanding online course offerings, improving degree-completion rates and other initiatives, according to a statement from the University.
California needs one million more college graduates by 2025 to keep a healthy economy, and as California’s largest producer of bachelor’s degrees, the CSU needs to step up, White said. College graduation rates have come under scrutiny in the past year, especially by Gov. Jerry Brown, who has also told the University of California it needs to raise its completion rates.
“What we do is simply remarkable – and California needs more of it,” White told a crowd of about 200 people gathered at CSU Long Beach. “This need is enormous, and we must intensify our efforts to do our part to meet that need.”
White’s plan aims to increase graduation rates for CSU undergraduates by 10 percent and by 5 percent for community college transfer students.
In his speech, White also shared concerns about reforming the California Master Plan for Education, which he said is outdated with the state’s large population growth since the plan was first instated. He also said many of the CSU’s buildings are out-of-date and in need of repair, but the CSU is $2 billion behind in financing such projects.