How Stanislaus State keeps its students

Modesto Bee 3/4/07

In the valley, where the education level lags behind state and national averages, much emphasis has been put on getting students to college. More important is getting students through college — out the door with a degree.

California State University, Stanislaus, has won state and national recognition for its success in retaining and graduating students, especially Latino students.

The most recent accolades appeared in a December report of the California Postsecondary Education Commission, which noted that 87 percent of Stanislaus' Latino freshmen continue as sophomores. That's known as the persistence rate, and first-year persistence, according to the report, "is a good indicator because it is often the most difficult year of adjustment to college-level work and the social challenges of university life."

Latino education rates are lower than those of valley residents overall, making Stanislaus State's achievements all the more significant.

The reasons for the success? A mix of shared mission and specific strategies. A team from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities visited the Turlock campus in 2005 and summarized it this way: "The oars are all in the water and they are pulling in the same direction."

In daily practice, this effort includes:

Professors and staff members who are themselves first-generation college graduates who encourage students in the same situation. However, like many universities, Stanislaus does not have enough Latino faculty when compared with the region's population.

A mandatory orientation for freshmen and transfers that guides them through registration and gives them a sense of being part of the university. The goal is that new students will identify with the university — through a program or professor or other element — within the first six weeks.

Free tutoring in math, English and other courses.

A sequence of checkups to make sure students are taking the correct classes to get them to graduation, followed by a checkout requirement to see that they follow the procedures to graduate.

A gentle boot to students who have amassed 120 credits but have not yet put together a graduation plan. They're encouraged to do so.

Stacey Morgan-Foster, vice president for student affairs, gives a lot of the credit to the individual attention faculty provides. Some departments require students to meet with an academic adviser before they can sign up for the next term's classes. Such regular contact is a mainstay of private universities but not typical for public schools.

An attractive setting — ponds, trails, handsome buildings — helps lure them to Stanislaus State, students say, but the people keep them going. Senior Crystal Rustin said a number of students she knows from the Salinas area have come to Turlock. It's the right distance from home — far enough, but not too far — and she likes the smaller classes. "It's not like a Berkeley, where you're going to be in a class of 200 students fighting for a professor's attention." Rustin likes the regular meetings with the adviser, which guarantee she's taking the classes she needs.

History professor Samuel Regalado describes the philosophy that contributes to the university's high graduation rates: "Recruitment doesn't mean anything if they don't graduate." His goal is to get the best history students thinking beyond the bachelor's degree — to graduate school and then teaching at the college level.