Cal State campuses best for upward economic mobility, new rankings say

Several California State University (CSU) campuses are the best universities in the state when it comes to driving upward economic mobility for low- and middle-income students after graduation, according to a new rankings system published Thursday.

CSU’s Los Angeles, Dominguez Hills, Stanislaus, Bakersfield and Fresno campuses took the top five spots in the rankings. CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, CSU Northridge and Cal Poly Pomona were also in the top 10, along with the University of California Merced.

Dubbed the California Mobility Index, the rankings consider the share of Pell Grant recipients that an institution enrolls, the average earnings of low- and middle-income students within 10 years after graduation and the average out-of-pocket costs those students paid for their degree at each institution.

Pell Grants are federal financial aid awards available to low-and middle-income students. Researchers used U.S. Department of Education data to track the earnings of low- and middle-income students after graduating.

Traditional ranking models “focus on those institutions that serve the wealthiest of Californians and reject the large majority of Californians,” said Eloy Ortiz Oakley, president of the College Futures Foundation, an Oakland-based nonprofit. The College Futures Foundation developed the index along with the HEA Group, a research and consulting firm.

“We wanted to turn that upside down and really show what true value is being created by California institutions and the kind of impact that they’re having in terms of the economic impact as well as the impact on individuals, particularly those individuals in California that need the economic lift the greatest,” Oakley added.

Researchers found that some private universities, such as Stanford University, do provide a “tremendous return on investment,” said Michael Itzkowitz, president and founder of the HEA Group. On average, graduates of Stanford need the least amount of time of any California university to recoup what they spent on their degree, the analysis found.

However, Stanford scored lower than many CSU campuses in the rankings because they enroll fewer Pell Grant recipients. At Stanford, Pell Grant recipients account for 19% of undergraduates, while they make up more than half of the enrollees at each of the Cal State campuses in the top five of the rankings.

“If you’re one of the few and fortunate to get into schools that we generally think are prestigious and provide a good ROI (return on investment), you should definitely consider it,” Itzkowtiz said. “But what this shows is that there are also a number of good options across the state of California that aren’t readily recognized through your traditional publications.”

EdSource receives funding from several foundations, including the College Futures Foundation. EdSource maintains sole editorial control over the content of its coverage.