CSUN’s strive for education has earned it a rank among the top schools in the country in awarding degrees to minority students.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine ranks all colleges and universities in the United States for degrees awarded to minority students every year. This year, CSUN was ranked 51st in the nation, with 425 minority students receiving a master’s degree. Last year CSUN was ranked 63rd with 364 minority students receiving master’s degrees and 298 students the year before.
There was an increase in bachelor’s degrees, as well. CSUN was ranked 10th with a total of 2,542 minority students receiving bachelor’s degrees, fifth in the nation for Hispanic American students and 27th for Asian American students.
The numbers from the rankings did not come from a survey. Olivia Pullmann, head of statistics for Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine, said the numbers are taken from the National Center for Education Statistics. Since universities give the NCES information such as enrollment and graduation rates, Pullmann is then able to sort through that information by ethnicity or major.
CSUN was also ranked fifth in Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine as well.
There are some reasons for the steady increase in degrees awarded to minority students.
“We have some very distinguished programs that are of great interest to minority students,” said John Chandler, director of public relations and strategic communications.
“Our Chicano/a Studies department is not only one of the oldest in the nation but also one of the best in the nation,” Chandler said.
Chandler also suggests that an increased enrollment rate at CSUN and a changing demographic in the surrounding cities contributes to the increasing number of minority graduates.
Second-year student Roberto Lopez chose CSUN over UC Santa Barbara because of its location.
“I think there are more minorities here,” said Lopez.
More female minority students seem to be receiving degrees than male minority students. In fact, in the top 10 schools for minorities in both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, every school had more women receiving degrees than men. CSUN had a total of 1,117 male minority students receive either a bachelor’s or master’s degree, while that total for female minority students reached 1,850. Chandler said women constitute the larger portion of the student body, which is about two-thirds women and one-third men.
“That’s been a trend that’s been continuing here at CSUN for a number of years and it’s also a trend that is occurring nationally,” Chandler said.
A factor that could help CSUN stay high on the rankings list would be to open up more programs for master’s degrees.
“We are increasing the number of master’s degree and online master’s degree programs that the university offers. We’re planning to offer about a half dozen new master’s degree programs,” Chandler said.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education also ranked colleges and universities among which fields of study were being emphasized. CSUN ranked in the top 10 for bachelor’s degrees in both English and psychology.
For bachelor’s degrees, CSUN ranked 19th in education, 18th in business management, 16th in social sciences and 13th for ethnic, cultural and gender studies. For master’s degrees CSUN also ranked 27th for education, 12th in English, and fifth in physical sciences.
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