NORTHRIDGE : CSUN Head Defends Low Graduation Rate

Cal State Northridge president Blenda J. Wilson defended the university’s below-average graduation rate in a speech before the Valley Jewish Business Leaders Assn. in Woodland Hills Friday.

A report released by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. in May placed CSUN in the bottom 10% of 298 major schools in graduation rates, based on findings that only 28% of freshmen who entered in 1985 had earned diplomas after six years.

The rate was lower than Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Fresno, Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Sacramento.

When a businessman asked what his 12-year-old son could look forward to when he reached college, Wilson took the opportunity to tout the quality of the school and respond to the report. She said the average time needed to earn a diploma nationally for students who don’t work is about 5.5 years, “so how can we possibly expect CSUN students will finish in four years?” she asked.

Most CSUN students work and commute to campus, she said. The average class load is nine or 10 credits, less than a full load of 15 credits. “I will not tell students to do more if that’s all they can do,” she added.

The breakfast meeting was the latest in a series of appearances Wilson has made recently before local business and community groups. Wilson, who has been president a year, is appealing to the private sector to help the university make it through the biggest crisis in state funding in its 35-year history. In exchange, she has said the school will help the business community through the expertise of CSUN faculty and student volunteer work.