CSU encourages 'super seniors' to make way for others
- February 17, 2010
By Laurel Rosenhall
Sacramento Bee Staff Writer
The California State University system has turned its attention to "super seniors" – students who have lingered in school for years even though they have enough credits to graduate.
CSU officials have said they will reduce enrollment by 40,000 students statewide in response to a 20 percent budget cut from the state. In addition to accepting fewer new students for admission, campuses are urging those who should be at the end of their college careers to take the final step and graduate.
"What we're really trying to do is say, 'Have a goal and get there,' " said Jo Volkert, an associate vice president at San Francisco State University. " 'We will help you get there.' "
It may sound like a no-brainer for an institution whose job is to educate students and get them into the work force. But dozens of reasons – from personal to bureaucratic – cause students to rack up units, staying in school longer than necessary. They take up seats in classes they don't need and cost taxpayers along the way: The state pays CSU about $7,000 a year for each full-time student enrolled.
Students who switch schools, change majors or add second degrees usually take years longer to graduate or wind up with excess credits by the time they reach their senior year. Some take classes they don't need so they have enough credits to qualify for financial aid. And many say budget cuts have made it harder to get the classes that satisfy academic requirements. So they register for extra electives while waiting a semester to try again for required courses.
"Classes aren't available when I need them to be, to fit my schedule at work," said Sacramento State student Erica Carstensen, who describes herself as a super senior with "a drillion" college credits.
She actually has 150 credits. Even though it takes just 120 units to graduate as a sociology major, Carstensen still hasn't met all her academic requirements. She transferred a couple times – from Solano Community College to San Diego State to Sacramento State – and courses from one college didn't always count at the next.
"You think you know what you're doing," she said. But "you end up taking classes you didn't realize that you don't need at the end."
Carstensen, 23, is in her sixth year of college and – if she can get into the classes she needs – figures she has one more semester to go. She might luck out: Officials announced earlier this month that CSU will use $50.9 million in federal stimulus funds to add 8,100 more classes to the fall schedule at its 23 campuses.
Only about 36 percent of CSU students manage to graduate in five years.
The issue isn't as pressing at the University of California, where 77 percent of students graduate in five years or less. Still, the state's budget crunch has prompted UC to look at ways of getting students through the system faster. The university's Commission on the Future is discussing a program for undergrads to earn a degree in three years.
Like CSU, UC took a 20 percent cut in state funding last year and is decreasing student enrollment in response. But UC's enrollment cuts are smaller, and they focus on incoming freshmen – not existing students. Last year UC reduced its freshman class by 2,300 students. For fall 2010, it will cut the freshman class by 1,500 students.
CSU's focus on super seniors is a silver lining in the budget cuts, said Judy Heiman of the state Legislative Analyst's Office. It "creates incentives for campuses to do a better job of advising and monitoring students' progress, making sure they're on track," she said.
"From our perspective, that's a good thing. It's a better use of the state's – and the students' – resources."
CSU has launched a new initiative to improve its graduation rates. So homing in on super seniors and urging them to cross the graduation stage helps the university two ways, simultaneously boosting completion rates and reducing the number of students.
San Jose State has a video on its Web site with an administrator telling students, "When you reach 90 units, apply to graduate. Stick to your program and you won't become a super senior."
At Cal State East Bay, officials are talking about forbidding seniors from adding a minor or a second major, because earning the second degree means staying in school longer.
"The point is not to be punitive," said Associate Vice President Greg Smith. "But our mission is to educate as many students as possible with that first degree. Rather than allowing students to stay and earn a couple of bachelor's degrees, we're telling them to move on, and that opens classes up for someone else."
At Sacramento State, officials are identifying students who have completed 150 units and are trying to get them to graduate. Most students need 120 or 130 units to earn a BA – but those units have to be in specific classes.
"The ones who are close to graduating, we put on a plan. The ones who aren't close, we get in advising so they can have a plan," said Associate Vice President Ed Mills.
Sacramento State found 360 students with excess credits when it began searching for them over the summer, Mills said, and 30 were able to graduate in December. Most wound up as super seniors because they had transferred with lots of units; some had changed majors at the last minute.
Sacramento State officials now discourage students from switching majors late in their course of study.
"We don't tell them not to do that," Mills said. "But we try to encourage them (to realize) how close they are to graduation."