CSU, Northridge Student Support Services Program

California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is one of 23 campuses in the California State University (CSU) system. With an enrollment exceeding 40,000 students, CSUN is among the largest single campus universities in the United States. Most CSUN students (86.8%) graduated from high schools in Los Angeles County, where 16.1% of families live below the poverty line, and fewer than half (45.9%) speak English at home. In this context, the campus enrolls large numbers of students who are low income and first in their family to attend college. In fall 2014, CSUN enrolled 2,716 undergraduate students who are low income only, 7,959 first generation only students, and 10,904 who are both, resulting in an annual candidate pool of more than twenty thousand SSS-eligible undergraduate students. With this program, CSUN intends to admit 140 students, mainly first time freshmen and first time transfers, two-thirds of whom are both low income and first generation, and one-third drawn from student populations who are either low income or first generation or both. Referrals from administrators and staff at area high schools and feeder community colleges, in collaboration with CSUN outreach to students at these sites, will facilitate identification and selection of SSS participants. Many SSS eligible students arrive without the academic skills to be competitive in the university; on average, they have lower GPAs and SAT scores, poorer performance on the English Placement and Entry Level Mathematics tests required for all CSU students, and most students and their families have little practical knowledge of financial aid programs or scholarship opportunities. In response, CSUN plans to offer a range of services: transitional programs for new students (Summer Bridge Residential, Summer Bridge Commuter, Summer Bridge Transfer, and Fresh Start), English and math remediation classes, freshmen seminar, development of an individualized Academic Success Plan, a 6-workshop fall series for all SSS students, mandatory, intrusive advisement, college-based individual and group counseling, tutoring, GRE preparation, career exploration seminars, and assistance with personal budgeting and financial management. The combination of services and activities is expected to help students achieve the following SSS objectives: (1) Persistence Rate: 78% of all participants served by the SSS project will persist from one academic year to the beginning of the next academic year or will have earned a bachelor?s degree at the grantee institution during the academic year; (2) Good Academic Standing Rate: 75% of all enrolled SSS participants being served will meet the performance level required to stay in good academic standing at the grantee institution; and (3) Graduation Rate: 47% of new participants served each year will graduate from the grantee institution with a bachelor?s degree or equivalent within six (6) years.