CSU graduation rates tick up for some students, decline for transfers

California State University once again saw the four-year graduation rate tick up for students who started as freshmen — to an all-time high of 35% in 2022. But the graduation rate for transfer students declined or stagnated — a sign that the pandemic and the shift to online classes probably hurt their academic progress. The mixed results — which officials stressed were preliminary — were released as part of the 23-campus system’s intensive effort to improve graduation rates, known as Graduation Initiative 2025.