LONG BEACH -- Nearly half of California State University's freshmen needed help with beginning college English courses last year, while about 40 percent were unprepared for introductory math, a new report shows.

The report released Wednesday to the CSU's board of trustees found that more than 48 percent of the 38,086 first-time freshmen entering in the 2003 fall semester failed to meet English proficiency requirements, a 1 percent decrease over the previous year.

The portion of freshmen unable to meet math requirements remained unchanged since the previous year, at nearly 37 percent.

A higher percentage of first-time freshmen entering in the 2003 fall semester at California State University, Stanislaus, failed to meet English requirements and math requirements compared with system wide totals.

About 54 percent of 551 first-time freshmen needed remedial English courses, and around 41 percent failed to meet proficiency requirements in math.

Those percentages are higher at Stanislaus State this fall over a year ago, said Jim Klein, interim dean of the College of Arts, Letters and Sciences.

Almost 4 percent more first-time freshmen failed to meet proficiency requirements in English this fall as compared to last fall, and those unable to meet math requirements jumped 2.5 percent.

Allison Jones, assistant vice chancellor of academic affairs with the CSU Chancellor's Office, said results at individual campuses vary because each university draws students from the local area. At Stanislaus, for example, about a quarter of first-time freshmen are Latino.

"I'm going to guess that many of those students come from households where the primary language is something other than English," Jones said.

There's good news when it comes to students completing remedial courses and moving on with their college educations, Klein said.

"I think the really amazing thing is to see how many students actually complete the remediation," he said.

The percentage of students who do so within a year at Stanislaus State has risen steadily, from 69 percent in fall 1999 to 97 percent this fall, he said.

"We're dealt the cards we're dealt, but we're doing the best we can to make sure they are successful in college," Klein said.

The math and English report shows that CSU, the nation's largest public university system, made mixed progress toward boosting initial proficiency levels. Freshmen needing remedial math fell 17 percent since 1998 while those requiring remedial English instruction climbed 1 percent over the same period.

"The good news," said David Spence, an executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for CSU, "over the years we've made some progress in math. The bad news: In the English language arts we've been stalled."

Exams help determine proficiency

Proficiency is partly determined by placement exams given to first-time freshmen, most of whom are recent high school graduates, CSU spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow said. The 23-campus system established goals to lower the number of incoming freshmen needing remediation to 10 percent by 2007. Until then, officials aim to lower math and English remedial rates to 26 percent and 22 percent, respectively, by 2004.

Eighty-two percent of 2002 freshmen requiring remedial classes were proficient a year later, up 3 percent since 1998.

Several trustees voiced concern about this year's lackluster figures.

"We're not seeing any percentage improvement year over year," said board member Shailesh Mehta. "I don't think you're going to meet the 2004 goal."

To lower remedial rates, Spence said, CSU started programs to help high school students prepare for the freshman exams or prove their proficiency before entering college. CSU officials also developed training for high school teachers.

"I think you're going to see tremendous improvement beginning next year," Spence told the board. "I am willing to bet my job on it," he joked.

California State University, San Luis Obispo, recorded the lowest remediation rates. Only 13.8 percent lacked English proficiency and 5.6 percent math proficiency.

California State University, Dominguez Hills, recorded the highest rates, with 81.8 percent needing help in English and 74.9 percent needing remediation in math.

The CSU system serves about 409,000 students and employs 44,000 faculty and staff.

Bee staff writer Melanie Turner contributed to this report.