CSULB earns Seal of Excelencia recertification

Cal State Long Beach has earned recertification of the Seal of Excelencia, it was announced today, demonstrating the university’s continuous improvement in outcomes for Latine, and all, students.

CSULB is one of only 21 colleges and universities to earn the seal this year from Excelencia in Education for delivering value to its students, its community and the country — reinforcing The Beach’s role as an engine of social mobility, economic vitality and workforce development.

The Beach received its first Seal of Excelencia in 2023. Only 55 institutions nationwide have earned the seal. Seal-certified institutions represent less than 2% of colleges and universities yet enroll 16% and graduate 18% of Latine students — and enroll and graduate 8% of all students.

“We are honored to be recertified with the Seal of Excelencia by Excelencia in Education,” said CSULB President Loren J. Blanchard. “This recognition reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting the success, belonging, and wellbeing of our Latine students at CSULB.”

The seal (valid for three years) is a rigorous, national certification earned through the intentional alignment of data, evidence-based practices and leadership strategies — all leading to student success. By advancing strategies, strengthening practices and setting measurable goals that deepen mission-driven investment in intentionally serving Latinos — who are representative of today’s post-traditional student majority, CSULB is strengthening capacity to serve all of our students.

“Seal of Excelencia-certified institutions present strength of purpose and impact at a moment of great change in higher education,” said Deborah Santiago, Excelencia in Education co-founder and CEO. “Excelencia is proud to work with these leaders that show us how it looks when students succeed because of their institutions — not despite them. Together, we are cultivating talent that will ensure America’s future.”

Last year, Excelencia in Education named the university's ÁNDALE Latino Research Training Program a 2025 Example of Excelencia.

CSULB is a federally designated Minority-Serving Institution and Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). The total student enrollment in fall 2026 was 35,804 of which 54.6% of full-time undergraduates and 52.8% of part-time undergraduates are Latine.  

“We are thrilled at the opportunity to move toward greater intentionality in serving Latine and all students, said Anna Ortiz, dean of the College of Education, who wrote the recertification application with Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives’ Associate Director michael Aranda and Catherine Ward, chief of operations for Academic Affairs and the Office of the Provost and in partnership with El Concilio, a collective of faculty, staff and students committed to advancing Latinx student success at CSULB.

Goals for the next three years include building infrastructure as an HSI to advise campus leaders and provide support and coordination for programs that service Latine students, strengthening activities to ensure that students are career ready and working with faculty to improve classroom climate to support all students.  

“These are simple goals to state, but they are large investments to better serve Latine students,” Ortiz said. “We are always cognizant of the fact that CSULB is over 50% Latino and when we are effective at designing programs, interventions and policies to support the majority of our students that they make college better for all CSULB students.”