DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY FEWER THAN 3% OF CSUN STUDENTS GRADUATE IN FOUR YEARS.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

Fewer than 3 percent of first-time freshmen graduate in four years from California State University, Northridge, and less than a third earn a degree in six years because of work and family obligations, and an overabundance of graduation requirements.

CSUN's six-year freshmen graduation rate ranks second from the bottom of the 23 campuses in the California State University system - a showing so abysmal that CSUN President Jolene Koester assembled a task force in fall 2000 to tackle the problem.

Among the group's recommendations are cutting basic graduation credits - CSUN has the most requirements in the system - revoking privileges for seniors who fail to graduate, improving student counseling and shifting course schedules to make it easier for working students to graduate on time.

``From the university's perspective, it's our hope and our responsibility to remove as many obstacles as we can so that students can achieve their education goals,'' Koester said. ``That's our goal, too, that they get that degree.''

On average, only 2.7 percent of first-time CSUN freshmen graduate in four years or less, according to a 2000 CSU accountability report. About 31 percent graduate in six years or less, compared with nearly 42 percent for the CSU system as a whole.

Transfer students, who make up about two-thirds of CSUN's enrollment, also take longer than four years to earn their degrees. Nearly 52 percent graduate within three years of starting their education at CSUN - after spending two or more years at a community college - compared with 51 percent systemwide.

CSUN students are not alone. Nationwide, college students spend an average of six years or more to earn what used to be a four-year baccalaureate degree.

The reasons for the snail-like pace are innumerable, educators and students said. Some students arrive on campus ill-prepared to handle the rigors of college, which requires maturity and time management skills to juggle a load of classes.

At CSUN, a commuter campus that attracts older students, many balance their studies with work and family obligations that sometimes interrupt their education. Still other students change their majors mid-stream, and have to spend more time completing their degrees.

Socorro Vazquez, a 27-year-old Sun Valley mother of two, typifies CSUN students who are juggling classes, work and family. After starting her college career in 1993 at Santa Monica College, she is finally graduating from CSUN next week with a degree in liberal studies.

``I'm so glad, because it took me so long to get here,'' said Vazquez who struggled to find night classes and rode two buses 90 minutes each way to Los Angeles Valley College, at one point, because she didn't have a car.

But she persisted ``because every morning, when I wake up and see my kids, I want them to be proud of me,'' she said of sons Ario, 5, and Zantos, 3.

``I want them to say, 'She graduated.'''

To make it easier for students such as Vazquez to graduate, the CSUN task force has issued a laundry list of recommendations.

Among them is reducing the number of general education requirements from 58 units to 48 units, as well as the number of credits required for a major to enable students to graduate on time and still take elective courses.

Revising class schedules, increasing online courses and boosting the number of classes on Friday, Saturday, weekends and nights could also help working students, Koester said.

The task force also called for overhauling the university's advisement system. CSUN is considering developing a computerized system that would track students' progress toward degrees and flag students at risk of failing to graduate within six years.

Faculty members, too, are being asked to review - and revamp - their teaching methods, which may prevent students from graduating on time.

The university is working to identify all classes with a 30 percent failure rate or higher, with hopes of offering supplemental instruction to struggling students and ensuring that all are academically well prepared before they enroll.

``There are all kinds of things you can do without watering down the content,'' said Michael Neubauer, CSUN faculty senate president, and co-chairman of the task force.

And students who fail to graduate despite accruing the necessary credits may find themselves at the bottom of the priority list for registration, a measure many other universities have adopted, said Louanne Kennedy, provost and vice president for academic affairs, who oversaw the task force with Neubauer.

Although Vazquez will graduate soon, her academic journey isn't over. The aspiring third-grade teacher wants to earn her master's degree after receiving her teaching credentials.

She recalled her son Ario's reaction when his teacher told him his mother would soon be a teacher, too: ``He was so happy; he had this joy - 'My mom's going to be somebody important.'''

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(color) CSUN student Socorro Vazquez, a 27-year-old Sun Valley mother of two, studies for finals. She'll graduate this month after starting her college career at SMC in 1993.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

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GRADUATION RATES

SOURCE: CSU Chancellor's Office