Graduation Initiative

Graduation Initiative 2025

With the culmination of the first phase of the CSU’s Graduation Initiative in 2015, Chancellor Tim White and Executive Vice Chancellor Loren Blanchard and the CSU Board of Trustees encouraged Chico and our sister campuses across the state to embrace new, more ambitious goals for the graduating class of 2025.  In July 2016, Chico State’s new President, Gayle Hutchinson, received new goals for increasing our 4- and 6-year graduation rates (2- and 4-year rates for transfer students).  

Chico State’s new targets for 2025 are:

Grad Initiative 2025 Targets

2025 Goal

2015 Rate

Freshman 6-Year Graduation

74%

64%

Freshman 4-Year Graduation

41%

26%

Transfer 2-Year Graduation

43%

31%

Transfer 4-Year Graduation

86%

76%

Gap - Underrepresented Minority

0

9 % points

Gap – Pell

0

10 % points


The Chancellor’s Office convened a Graduation Symposium in September 2016 to emphasize the importance of student success and timely graduation and share best practices from campuses across the system. 

In April 2017, President Gayle Hutchinson submitted a revised Student Success Plan (PDF) for reaching these bold targets. The CSU created a system-wide plan (PDF), and together with plans from each campus, submitted these to the State Department of Finance to access one-time funds aimed at advancing toward these goals. 

The campus plan includes short-term efforts designed to improve decision-makers’ and students’ access to information that enables timely progress to degree, and a targeted effort to remove barriers, provide additional classes and otherwise support students’ ability to finish their studies in a timely manner without compromising the quality of their degrees.

Chico State is committed to student success and will invest any additional resources provided to us wisely and strategically in order to support the timely graduation of our students consistent with a rich and enriching college experience and a quality degree.  

student showing excitement at graduation ceremony