2013 graduating students. Photo by Nestor Garcia.
California State University, Northridge ranks among the top 10 universities in the country that award undergraduate and graduate degrees to Hispanic students, according to Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education.
The magazine’s annual ranking of the “Top 100” institutions for Hispanics appears in its May 13 issue.
“I am pleased to see the university maintain its high ranking on this list,” said CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison. “The recognition underscores our standing as one of the most diverse university campuses in the nation, as well as our commitment to success and in providing opportunity and access to students from traditionally underrepresented communities.”
Northridge ranked 10th in the nation among colleges and universities that award undergraduate and graduate degrees. Miami Dade College in Florida ranked first, followed by Florida International University and the University of Texas-Pan American. Cal State Fullerton, which ranked eighth, and CSUN were the only California institutions of higher education to break the top 10 based on 2011 data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
CSUN ranked fifth in the nation in the total number of Hispanic undergraduate and graduate students enrolled full time. First was Miami Dade College, followed by Florida International University, the University of Texas-Pan American and the University of Texas at El Paso. CSUN ranked 19th in total enrollment, both full- and part-time, of Hispanic undergraduate and graduate students.
The magazine also ranked CSUN first in the nation for bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanic students in journalism and in liberal arts and sciences; second in bachelor’s degrees awarded in general psychology; fourth in degrees awarded in the social sciences; ninth in degrees awarded in ethnic, cultural, minority or gender studies; and 10th in health and physical education or fitness.
California State University, Northridge has more than 36,000 full- and part-time students—34 percent of whom are Hispanic—and offers 69 bachelor’s and 57 master’s degrees, 28 teaching credential programs and two applied doctoral degree programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the largest single-campus universities in the nation and the only four-year public university in the San Fernando Valley. The university is home to dozens of nationally recognized programs where students gain valuable hands-on experience working alongside faculty and industry professionals, whether in the sciences, health care and engineering or education, political science, the arts and the social sciences. While regionally focused, the university’s faculty and administrators recognize the important role its students and alumni play in shaping the future of the state and the nation.