CSULB ranks No. 1 in the CSU for General Education Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning Completion

A sustained, long-term redesign of first-year placement, instruction, and student support has propelled CSULB to No. 1 in the CSU for first-time, first-year students' completion of the foundational mathematics and quantitative reasoning requirement.

The 2026 CSU Legislative Report on Academic Preparation of First-Year Students ranks California State University, Long Beach first among the CSU's 22 campuses based on the fall 2024 first-year cohort's completion rate for the foundational mathematics and quantitative reasoning requirement.

By the end of the cohort's third semester, 5,828 of 6,482 students (90%) had met the requirement, compared with a CSU average of 77%. Among students identified through CSU Multiple Measures as needing additional support, 81% met the requirement, compared with 59% systemwide. This 22-percentage-point advantage is especially significant: it shows that broader access to college-level mathematics can advance equity when paired with well-designed support.

A Coordinated Reform

The result grew from CSULB's implementation of CSU Executive Order 1110, which began in AY 2017-18. This system-wide reform eliminated stand-alone remedial prerequisites, introduced multiple-measures placement, and expanded access to credit-bearing coursework.

Led by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the redesign replaced five noncredit Early Start courses with ESM 100; retired MATH 103 and MATH 109; created MATH 104, The Power of Mathematics, and the MATH 112A/112B Essential Algebra sequence; and introduced co-requisite support through MATH 92/94/95, STAT 90, and MTED 90. High school GPA, test scores, and ALEKS PPL results informed placement, while EAB Navigate early alerts connected students to advising, tutoring, directed peer learning, and other resources, such as the Learning Center and the Mentoring, Advising, and Placement Support program (MAPS).

Sustained Gains at Scale

In AY 2017-18, the final year before EO 1110 was implemented, 77% of first-year students who attempted a B4 course earned an A, B, or C within their first year in residence; by AY 2024-25, that figure had risen to 88%. Among students then classified as remedial or as needing additional support, the completion rate rose from 36% to 77%, a 41-percentage-point gain.

Achieved in an environment serving more than 5,000 first-year students and involving more than 100 instructors each year, these results demonstrate a durable institutional redesign rather than the success of a single course or pilot.

Faculty and Program Leadership

The 2018-19 Math GE Redesign Committee included faculty members Babette Benken, Ryan Blair, Jen-Mei Chang, Josh Chesler, Florence Newberger, Kagba Suaray, and Tianni Zhou, who worked with department chairs Will Murray and Tangan Gao, CNSM Associate Dean Krzysztof Slowinski, and CNSM Dean Curtis Bennett. Chang led Early Start and ALEKS; Chang, Chesler, and Blair led MATH 104/94; Newberger and Andrea Johnson led MATH 112A/112B, and MATH 92; Zhou and Suaray led STAT 108/90; Chesler led MTED 110/90; and Slowinski coordinated the overall EO 1110 quantitative reasoning and support redesign. Erin DeSantis, Jen-Mei Chang, and graduate student Kirsten Miller contributed to the data analysis and assessment of CSULB's placement approaches.

The work of the 2017-18 Data Fellows (Chang, Dana Hooten, Tangan Gao, Krzysztof Slowinski, and Tianni Zhou), along with Miller's 2020 M.S. thesis, strengthened the analytical foundation.

The reform continues through the dedicated work of course coordinators, graduate teaching associates, learning assistants, tutors, advisors, and student support staff. The new projects in Fall 2026 include continued MATH 112A redesign and embedded-support pilot coordinated by Deon Nguyen, MATH 93 precalculus support coordinated by Andrea Johnson, and MATH 22 and MATH 23 calculus support pilot led by Chung-min Lee and John Brevik.

Holistic Approach Proved Successful

CSULB's No. 1 ranking validates our holistic redesign approach: removing noncredit barriers, providing appropriate credit-bearing pathways, recognizing multiple forms of readiness, embedding timely academic support, coordinating advising and instruction, and continually improving through evidence. Most importantly, it demonstrates that students who begin college needing more support can succeed at high rates when the institution redesigns the academic conditions around them.

Sources: CSU Legislative Reports - Academic Preparation of First-Year Students and the CSU Student Success Dashboard.