Reed, however, cautioned that the Obama Administration's goal of the U.S. having the most college degrees in the world by 2020, can not be reached without the "students of color," and "without California."The CSU chancellor, while addressing a National Press Club Newsmakers press conference on March 2 in Washington, DC, said, "We're the most diverse university system in America by far," adding that seven of several CSU campuses, including Long Beach and San Diego, have more low-income students than the entire Ivy League, as measured by federal Pell grants.
With 56% of CSU students, of color and belonging to underserved communities of California, Reed said that he is "color blind."
Reed outlined a new graduation initiative to help reach Obama initiative 2020 with a two pronged strategy by "improving graduation rates 8% as a system by 2016" and "cutting in half the achievement gap for underrepresented minority students."
Reed, in his plan, mentioned such simple reforms as paying closer attention to the progress of students, taking roll in class, and contacting students who don't show up while introducing mandatory advising, to steer students to the right courses. Chancellor Reed, head of the largest public university system in the country with 23 campuses and 450,000 students, said that the CSU "is grappling with massive budge cuts," adding, "some call it melt-down," and "we have lost 20% of our state support (to the tune of) $625 million."
Reed noted, "we had been forced to raise student fees, cut enrollment by 40,000 students and furlough almost all of our employees two days a month."
"Current students absorbed a 32% tuition raise in a single year," he said, but adding, "even today CSU students only pay about $4,000 a year, far less than at comparable
Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7017984207?CSU%20Chancellor%20Reed%20Welcomes%20Obama's%20Stimulus%20Package,%20Promotes%20More%20Color%20Enrollment#ixzz0h7KimCb0
