Long Beach State Ranks Sixth in the Nation in Advancing Disadvantaged Students
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Oct. 24, 2018) – Long Beach State University scored among the best universities in the nation, ranking sixth in the annual Social Mobility Index, which examines how well colleges and universities advance their low-income students into high wage jobs.
“We are a proven driver of upward social mobility, and this ranking underscores our university’s commitment to improving the lives of our graduates,” said President Jane Close Conoley. “We also are helping stoke economic growth in Southern California and the social well-being of residents in the region. This is testament to the hard work of our faculty and staff to helping our students thrive on campus.”
The CollegeNET assessment of 1,083 higher education institutions aims at redirecting the notion of prestige toward campuses that are working to address major civic issues like advancing disadvantaged students into well-paying jobs. Long Beach State University dropped one spot in the ranking when compared with 2017, when the university was fifth in the nation. In 2016, LBSU ranked 11th.
“At CSULB we center our campus on three core tenets: intellectual achievement, inclusive excellence and public good to serve our students, community and the region,” said Brian Jersky, provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs at Long Beach State University.
“When rankings like this reflect back that our main values have been successful, I am thrilled that we are positively affecting student’s lives,” Jersky said. “I know this change not only benefits a student’s life, but also their families and surrounding communities. This remains a true testament to why education is so important.”
The five criteria that were analyzed in the CollegeNET ranking included tuition, economic background of students, graduation rates, early career salary and endowment, with endowment being the least sensitive of the variables considered in the analysis. Tuition and economic makeup of the student body were the most heavily weighed criteria used in the assessment from CollegeNET.
Campuses in the California State University and University of California systems made up half of the top 20 spots in the index.
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About the campus: Long Beach State University is a teaching-intensive, research-driven university committed to providing highly valued undergraduate and graduate degrees critical for success in the globally minded 21st century. Annually ranked among the best universities in the West and among the best values in the entire nation, the university’s eight colleges serve more than 37,500 students. The campus values and is recognized for rich educational opportunities provided by excellent faculty and staff, exceptional degree programs, diversity of its student body, fiduciary and administrative responsibility and the positive contributions faculty, staff, students and more than 300,000 alumni make on society.
About the Social Mobility Index: Now in its fifth year, the nationally recognized Social Mobility Index is a data-driven analysis that examines 1,083 universities and colleges on the basis of how well each institution graduates low income students into well-paying jobs. CollegeNET, a provider of web-based technologies for higher education institutions, organizes the index.
