Cal State University system shifts focus to careers, not just degrees
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Sunday. Don’t forget to switch your devices back an hour for daylight saving time. I’m your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:
- The Cal States want good careers for their students.
- A deadly fungus that kills bats may have arrived in Southern California.
- Where to vote in the 2024 election in person or by drop box.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper
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Degrees and jobs, please. CSU system rethinks student success amid college value skepticism
While there have been many changes from my time as a Cal State University student to a current adjunct professor over a decade-plus span, one concern seems ever present.
It’s a question my students ask with frequency: “What am I going to do after I graduate?”
My colleague Teresa Watanabe reported that the Cal State University system, or CSU, has historically valued its graduation rate, rather than post-graduation employment rate, as the top marker for student success.
That, however, may be changing as the 23-campus school system is shifting its goalpost. Yes, four-year degrees are still important but so are good jobs as more consumers, parents, families and students question the value of a college education.
To that end, Watanbe reported that the Cal State system will boost efforts to link higher education with clear employment payoffs, more career paths, networking and pathways to internships and jobs.
Who attends the Cal State system?
About 30% of CSU students are first-generation and nearly 50% are Latino. That marks a sizable shift from 24% in 2007, when CSU Chancellor Mildred García then stepped in to head the Dominguez Hills campus.
Latino, Black, American Indian and Alaska Native, historically underrepresented groups constitute 54% of the system’s 460,000 students.
García said that many students, including first-generation college students, may not have social connections to build resumes, place in internships and fellowships or other experiences that help launch careers.
She called on campuses to be more intentional about career guidance.
“We have to show students what’s the endgame,” García said in an interview. “It’s not graduation. It’s how do we connect graduation to either a career that they’re studying or graduate school and help them get to that? That’s what families want, right? Return on investment.”
Growing skepticism over the value of college
García — who was also Cal State Fullerton’s president at one time — said she wanted to focus on post-graduate career success.
She said she witnessed growing skepticism about the value of a college degree while serving as president of the 350-member American Assn. of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C.
She kept those memories in mind when she returned to the Golden State last fall to run the CSU system.
García felt that the university’s first-generation and unrepresented students often enter college with “limited knowledge” of the wide array of available careers.
How a little help could have gone a long way
Cal State Fullerton fourth-year student Suzette Morales, the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants with elementary school educations, said more career guidance is crucial.
Morales said she didn’t know of internships or how to get one until a friend mentioned it in her after her freshman year.
Despite early interest in law school, she did not know about the requirement for a law school exam or how to pay for it, causing her to put that goal on hold for now while she finishes school and serves in the U.S. Coast Guard.
“I had no experience with corporate jobs and no one to talk to about it,” Morales said.
The work to more intentionally link higher education and post-graduate jobs is just beginning, García said. She added, however, that the school system’s success is crucial for not only students but also cities, the state and nation, which will need the health professionals, teachers, businesspeople and other educated workers to keep the economy vital and strong.
“We have the talent,” García said. “We have to make sure that we understand that public higher education is an investment.”
Watanabe reports on the vital issue along with graduation rates and COVID’s interference.
The week’s biggest stories
We’re on the final Election Season push until Tuesday’s last day of voting
- Voters are seeing more deepfakes — and worrying more about their influence. How to spot them.
- These special interests are spending big to influence which Democrats win L.A. seats in the Legislature.
- ‘Wild and crazy ride’: The stunning, exhausting presidential race we all just witnessed.
- ‘It’s close’: Half of voters polled favor L.A. County Measure A sales tax for homeless services.
- Noticias Telemundo anchor Julio Vaqueiro on why the Latino vote matters more than ever.
- Opinion: Why I’m voting for Donald Trump.
The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their long-desired parade
- L.A. toasts its World Series champion Dodgers: ‘The city needed this parade.’
- Dodgers World Series parade: Thousands celebrate in the streets and at Dodger Stadium.
- Clayton Kershaw revels in his first World Series parade, reveals additional injury.
- Dodgers fans turn to lucky jerseys, sweaters, rosaries and prayer to help team win the title.
- Photos: Dodgers celebrate World Series win with massive parade, Dodger Stadium event.
- Column: Freddie Freeman will forever be the name and face of the Dodgers’ 2024 championship.
Crime, courts and policing
- Two major reports slam UCLA over policing, violence at pro-Palestinian protest.
- FBI affidavit details bloody attack aboard cross-country flight out of San Francisco.
- L.A. County sues Pepsi and Coca-Cola over their role in ongoing plastic pollution crisis.
- After deputies took her pet goat to be butchered, girl wins $300,000 from Shasta County.
- ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ in the midst of a legal battle between Sony and CBS.
Southern California happenings
- After a century, concrete plant that helped build L.A. makes way for a deluxe tower.
- L.A. city leaders look to borrow money to cover soaring legal payouts.
- Bird flu virus found in Los Angeles County wastewater.
More big stories
- Wendell Pierce hated World Series Game 5: The ‘ugliness of humanity’ sent him home early.
- Two hospitalized after being struck by car during illegal Orange County street takeover.
- Four hospitalized after boat catches fire off Long Beach.
- This red California county roiled by a far-right-insurgency braces for more trouble as election nears.
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Column One
Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:
When Karue Sell really rips a serve, it sounds like a tactical shotgun, the ball kicking up shoulder high. His backhand is like a precision laser carving up the baseline. To the casual observer, he’s the mustachioed version of Roger Federer. Yet he lives in a world far different than the one the Maestro glided through on the way to 20 Grand Slam singles titles.
More great reads
- Ali: The election is supposedly about women’s issues. Why are the media so obsessed with men?
- Joining Beverly Hills and Coronado in rebelling against state housing rules: this blue collar city.
- Column: The Greatest! Historic Dodgers overpower Yankees for eighth World Series championship.
- Many Americans can’t afford to retire. It’s even harder for undocumented migrants.
- Column: O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do’s downfall started with this dogged reporter.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your weekend
Going out
- 🐟 Actress Sophie Thatcher gives us insight into her “Sunday Funday,” beginning with smoked salmon tartine.
- 📽️ Jacques Audiard’s full-bodied, colorful epic about transformation, redemption and finding one’s voice, “Emilia Pérez” debuts this weekend.
- 🚶 Enjoy those little free libraries? Here’s our guide for eight magical neighborhood walks where you can find them.
- 🦢 Rediscover Echo Park, Los Angeles’ quick escape.
Staying in
- 🟡 The latest installment of Illumination’s mega-grossing animated franchise, “Despicable Me 4,” debuts on streaming on Peacock.
- 📕 A long-awaited biography of Johnny Carson proves he’s the Everest of celebrity subjects — tempting but perilous
- 🧑🍳 Happy National Sandwich Day! Here’s a recipe for a savory bacon, egg and guacamole breakfast sandwich.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.
L.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
Mutual friends introduced them and they hit it off pretty quickly. They navigated the streets of Los Angeles, eventually enjoying volumes of vinyls and taking that kitschy Instragram flick under the store’s arch of books. On another outing, they packed a couple of poke bowls and headed to the Hollywood Bowl to see Weezer and Alanis Morissette. Visions of the future were difficult to avoid.
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Carlos Lozano, news editor
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