Fresno State set big graduation targets for 2015-2025. It missed mark on most goals
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- Fresno State only met one of three targets set in CSU Graduation Initiative 2025.
- Dean La Porta says significant gains made are more important than specific targets.
- COVID, disadvantaged student population made it difficult for Fresno State to hit targets.
Despite significantly improving its graduation rates, Fresno State failed to meet most of the targets it set as part of an effort to increase those rates across the California State University system from 2016 to 2025.
CSU data published in early December by EdSource, a nonprofit news organization focused on education in California, shows the only graduation-rate target Fresno State met in the decade was for students who transfer to the university and obtain their undergraduate degree in two years.
The university did not accomplish its goals for freshmen who obtain their degree in four years, freshmen who obtain it in six years or transfer students who obtain it in four years.
In the six-year freshman category, EdSource reported Fresno State’s graduation rate actually dropped by 0.2 percentage points between 2015-2025 — though the university says those numbers don’t fully represent its performance in that category.
Sergio La Porta, a dean with Fresno State’s Kremen School of Education and Human Development, told The Fresno Bee that the university set big goals that would prove difficult to meet for a campus where students often work multiple jobs while going to college.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many to drop out, he said.
“I wouldn’t put that much importance on hitting a particular number,” La Porta said. “The trend of improvement, despite what happened in COVID, is what’s critical here.”
The effort to improve graduation rates that began in 2015, known as the Graduation Initiative 2025, came at a time when less than 20% of students who started as freshmen graduated from a CSU in four years. Since 2016, California has dedicated $1.7 billion from its General Fund to the effort, according to a recent report by the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Now at the end of the decade, the results show varying levels of success among the system’s 23 campuses, and the Legislative Analyst’s Office thinks the state should tighten its oversight of spending on graduation rate improvement efforts.
Fresno State received about $25 million in recurring graduation Initiative money in that time, spokesperson Lauren Nickerson said in an email to The Bee.
La Porta said the university increased tutoring for high-failure classes, began counting some general education units toward majors and added new class sections so more students can access courses they need, among other strategies.
“We would hope that the state continues to provide that sort of funding to make sure we (the CSU system) can continue to graduate the most undergraduate degrees in the state,” he said.
Did Fresno State 6-year freshman graduation rate fall?
The data compiled by EdSource shows Fresno State’s six-year freshman graduation rates decreased from 58.4% in 2015 to 58.2% in 2025. The university was one of seven CSUs that backslid in this category for the time period measured.
But La Porta said the data’s presentation leaves out Fresno State’s gains in this category over the past two decades.
He said the 58.4% corresponds to students who started at Fresno State as freshmen in 2009 and graduated in 2015. That cohort, he said, had one of the university’s highest six-year freshman graduation rates ever recorded.
But the six-year graduation rate had fallen to 56.6% for Fresno State students who started as freshman 2015. Compared to that, the 58.2% six-year graduation rate in 2025 represents an upward trend, he said.
La Porta also said Fresno State’s average six-year graduation rate went from 49.9% in the 2000-2009 decade to 56.3% in the 2010-2019 decade.
Fresno State ‘saw increases’ but didn’t meet goals. Why?
Fresno State exceeded its target graduation rate for transfer students who obtain their degree in two years, going from 22.2% in 2015 to 46.6% this year, according to the university’s own data. (EdSource shows this year’s rate at 42.4%)
The university increased its graduation rate for four-year freshmen from 15.3% to 27.3%, but that was still 7.7 points shy of its 35% target, according to EdSource. Fresno State also significantly improved its four-year transfer graduation rate, but Edsource reported it finished 3.3 percentage points shy of its 80% target. The university’s own data shows it finished the decade just 0.4 points below its target in that category.
La Porta described the goals set in 2015 as “ambitious and aspirational” ones that the Fresno State would “love to hit.”
Like many other universities, Fresno State’s numbers suffered as a result of students dropping out during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
“They started, but because of COVID, they never continued,” he said. “That really needs to be taken into account.”
La Porta also said Fresno State’s students experience more challenges than those at other campuses. At Fresno State, a majority of undergraduates are minorities, first-generation college students and eligible for the federal Pell Grant for students with financial need.
By comparison, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the university with the highest graduation rate of all CSUs for 4-year freshmen, has enrolled the fewest low-income students of all CSUs in recent years.
“I think the important story is we saw increases,” La Porta said. “With a concerted effort, we were able to move a needle that’s very difficult to move.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2025 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Fresno State set big graduation targets for 2015-2025. It missed mark on most goals."
