A Deeper Look at Equity in CSUSB Programs
By Gabrielle Abilez
Contributing Authors: Kevin A. Smith and Garrett Byer
Your chances of walking across the commencement stage at CSUSB may depend less on your high school GPA and more on the two-digit code of the academic department you choose. While the university champions its diverse student body, a deep dive into graduation data uncovers a stark, hidden landscape of inequality, where achievement gaps between student demographics are not just persistent but are dramatically wider in some of the university’s largest and most critical colleges.
The gender imbalance across the colleges reflects broader national and statewide trends in higher education. Women have steadily outpaced men in college completion for more than two decades, but the gap has widened most in social science, education, and liberal arts majors. At CSUSB, this difference could be due to differences in major interests, support networks, or even just recruitment patterns within each college. Experts say that while increasing female participation is a positive outcome, long term equity also depends on improving access and retention for men, particularly those from underrepresented and first-generation backgrounds.
While the data shows that Social and Behavioral Sciences has the highest graduation rate of all the CSU San Bernardino colleges over the past few years, reaching nearly 2,000 more graduates than the other colleges, the more surprising revelation is the difference in gender enrollment rates with females towering over males by over 4,000 enrollees as of 2024. This continues to be the case when broken down between the CSUSB colleges with Social and Behavioral Sciences as the reigning champion totaling 5291 graduates since fall of 2021, and with female enrollees outnumbering males in 2024 by nearly 3 to 1 (see graph 2).
That’s not to say that CSU San Bernardino is slacking. According to the CSU Office of the Chancellor, 2024 – CSUSB trails slightly behind systemwide averages. The CSU system’s overall six-year graduation rate reached 63% in 2024, while CSUSB stood at 55%, an eight-point gap. However, CSUSB performs slightly better in closing the equity gap. The university reports between a 5 to 6 percentage-point difference between underrepresented and non-underrepresented students, compared to the CSU average of eight. This suggests that while CSUSB faces challenges in raising total completion rates, its internal equity measures are beginning to show progress, reflecting focused campus-level efforts under the CSU Graduation Initiative 2025.
Graph 2 displays CSUSB Undergraduate and Graduate Enrollment by College (Fall 2021-Spring 2024). The data shows steady undergraduate growth across most colleges – especially Arts and Letters, Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Graduate enrollment remains comparatively consistent, reflecting ongoing efforts to close equity and access gaps across academic programs. (Graph courtesy of Garrett Byer)
CSUSB’s data tells a story of both progress and possibility. The university continues to expand access for a diverse student body and make strides toward narrowing equity gaps, yet the differences between colleges and gender enrollment show there’s still work to do. True success will mean not only improving graduation rates, but ensuring that every student regardless of major, background, or gender has the same chance to cross the stage. As CSUSB moves closer to its 2025 goals, its greatest achievement may not be measured by numbers, but by how equally those numbers are shared across its campus community.