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SDSU to City College students: Drop dead
Todd Gloria, successful money hound
“San Diego State’s associate vice president for enrollment management acknowledged that some impacted majors, such as biological sciences, have denied transfer applicants who meet the major’s admissions requirements..."
SDSU’s un-transferred
Community college students from San Diego and elsewhere around the state are losing out on a quality education, and much of the blame lies with California’s university system, particularly San Diego State University. So says a September 24 report by California State Auditor Grant Parks. “Only about 1 in 5 students who began community college from 2017 to 2019 and intended to transfer did so within four years, and transfer rates were even lower for students from certain regions and demographic groups,” the newly released document says, adding that some state schools, including SDSU, are dramatically worse than others.
Grant Parks: not granting SDSU the benefit of the doubt.
“When we examined majors that had low transfer representation within specific campuses, we identified some — mostly at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San Diego State — that exhibited indications they may be denying qualified transfer applicants.”
SDSU management protested the conclusions, but auditors were unswayed. “When we analyzed graduation data — which considers only those students who ultimately earned a degree — we still found that certain [California State University] majors, such as biological sciences at San Diego State, awarded fewer than one‑third of their degrees to transfer students. In other words, transfer representation remained low for many majors even when we adjusted for freshmen changing their majors.”
Per the findings, “Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San Diego State had the lowest campus transfer admission rates — 19 percent and 30 percent, respectively — from academic years 2018–19 through 2022–23. Moreover, these two campuses admitted transfer applications to their computer science majors at rates of just 8 percent and 13 percent, respectively.”
According to the document, “San Diego State’s associate vice president for enrollment management acknowledged that some impacted majors, such as biological sciences, have denied transfer applicants who meet the major’s admissions requirements, although campus officials identified that recent trends show higher transfer admission rates in Fall 2023 and 2024, including in high‑demand majors. Auditors remained unconvinced and called for more rapid reform. Although most transfer students who applied to CSU and [the University of California] gained admission to at least one campus in those systems, [community college] students still struggle to transfer,” says Parks’s letter.
The situation has become so bad that many community college students, although potentially qualified, don’t even bother to pursue a higher education. “The vast majority of students who did not transfer never reached the point of applying to CSU or UC, mainly because they had not earned enough units. The three systems could help increase transfer rates by improving the outreach and support they provide to transfer-intending students. For example, [California Community Colleges] could ensure that students receive counseling and develop education plans so that they have a clear roadmap for transferring. The three systems could also share data about transfer students to help campuses make more targeted outreach efforts. Additionally, for students who earn enough units to transfer, CSU and UC could facilitate access to their preferred degree programs by ensuring that competitive campuses and majors adequately prioritize transfer applicants for admission.”
Declares the report: “Ultimately, it is incumbent on the CSU Chancellor’s Office to identify whether a particular campus or major has low transfer representation and, if so, to ensure that the campus or major is offering admission to as many qualified transfer applicants as possible.”
HNTB’s tale of two mayors
Some handy last-minute campaign money came in for incumbent Democratic mayor Todd Gloria’s successful bid to hold onto his job last week, city disclosure filings show. On November 2, just days before the election, controversial transit contracting giant HNTB Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri kicked in $10,000 to fund the oddly-named San Diegans for Fairness Supporting Todd Gloria for Mayor & Stephen Whitburn for Council 2024. In addition to the Gloria spending, HNTB gave almost a half-million dollars to the now narrowly failed Yes on G campaign to boost county sales taxes for road and transportation projects, from which HNTB was expected to derive major revenue.
Hasan Ikhrata: dining with Faulconer-friendly developers?
The company has found itself at the heart of the South Bay toll road and a related overcharging scandal. The big firm also emerged as an issue during the failed campaign of ex-San Diego GOP mayor Kevin Faulconer to dislodge Democratic incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer from her seat on the county board of supervisors. Per an October 1 dispatch posted by the online Times of San Diego, Faulconer had been paid $100,000 by HTNB to lobby the board and employees of SANDAG, otherwise known as the San Diego Association of Governments, owner of the toll road. “Email messages and calendar entries from the San Diego Association of Governments obtained through a Public Records Act request, indicate that Faulconer met frequently last year with then SANDAG CEO Hasan Ikhrata, and arranged dinners and meetings with HNTB and top SANDAG officials.” Added the account, “HNTB, Faulconer’s client, had nine different projects they were consulting on for SANDAG. The bugs in the toll system were just one.”
Also in the lineup of big out of town contributors providing money to the pro-Gloria committee were the Expedia Group Inc. of Seattle ($2500, November 4), the Coalition for Patient Access & Innovation, sponsored by California Life Sciences of Sacramento ($85,100, October 10), and the California Apartment Association Independent Expenditure Committee, also of Sacramento ($175,000, October 16). California Life Sciences represents big pharmaceutical firms who have been battling against price caps and drug patent reforms, and the apartment association has been battling rent control.
— Matt Potter
The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.
Here's something you might be interested in.
SDSU to City College students: Drop dead
Todd Gloria, successful money hound
SDSU to City College students: Drop dead
Todd Gloria, successful money hound
“San Diego State’s associate vice president for enrollment management acknowledged that some impacted majors, such as biological sciences, have denied transfer applicants who meet the major’s admissions requirements..."
SDSU’s un-transferred
Community college students from San Diego and elsewhere around the state are losing out on a quality education, and much of the blame lies with California’s university system, particularly San Diego State University. So says a September 24 report by California State Auditor Grant Parks. “Only about 1 in 5 students who began community college from 2017 to 2019 and intended to transfer did so within four years, and transfer rates were even lower for students from certain regions and demographic groups,” the newly released document says, adding that some state schools, including SDSU, are dramatically worse than others.
Grant Parks: not granting SDSU the benefit of the doubt.
“When we examined majors that had low transfer representation within specific campuses, we identified some — mostly at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San Diego State — that exhibited indications they may be denying qualified transfer applicants.”
SDSU management protested the conclusions, but auditors were unswayed. “When we analyzed graduation data — which considers only those students who ultimately earned a degree — we still found that certain [California State University] majors, such as biological sciences at San Diego State, awarded fewer than one‑third of their degrees to transfer students. In other words, transfer representation remained low for many majors even when we adjusted for freshmen changing their majors.”
Per the findings, “Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San Diego State had the lowest campus transfer admission rates — 19 percent and 30 percent, respectively — from academic years 2018–19 through 2022–23. Moreover, these two campuses admitted transfer applications to their computer science majors at rates of just 8 percent and 13 percent, respectively.”
According to the document, “San Diego State’s associate vice president for enrollment management acknowledged that some impacted majors, such as biological sciences, have denied transfer applicants who meet the major’s admissions requirements, although campus officials identified that recent trends show higher transfer admission rates in Fall 2023 and 2024, including in high‑demand majors. Auditors remained unconvinced and called for more rapid reform. Although most transfer students who applied to CSU and [the University of California] gained admission to at least one campus in those systems, [community college] students still struggle to transfer,” says Parks’s letter.
The situation has become so bad that many community college students, although potentially qualified, don’t even bother to pursue a higher education. “The vast majority of students who did not transfer never reached the point of applying to CSU or UC, mainly because they had not earned enough units. The three systems could help increase transfer rates by improving the outreach and support they provide to transfer-intending students. For example, [California Community Colleges] could ensure that students receive counseling and develop education plans so that they have a clear roadmap for transferring. The three systems could also share data about transfer students to help campuses make more targeted outreach efforts. Additionally, for students who earn enough units to transfer, CSU and UC could facilitate access to their preferred degree programs by ensuring that competitive campuses and majors adequately prioritize transfer applicants for admission.”
Declares the report: “Ultimately, it is incumbent on the CSU Chancellor’s Office to identify whether a particular campus or major has low transfer representation and, if so, to ensure that the campus or major is offering admission to as many qualified transfer applicants as possible.”
HNTB’s tale of two mayors
Some handy last-minute campaign money came in for incumbent Democratic mayor Todd Gloria’s successful bid to hold onto his job last week, city disclosure filings show. On November 2, just days before the election, controversial transit contracting giant HNTB Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri kicked in $10,000 to fund the oddly-named San Diegans for Fairness Supporting Todd Gloria for Mayor & Stephen Whitburn for Council 2024. In addition to the Gloria spending, HNTB gave almost a half-million dollars to the now narrowly failed Yes on G campaign to boost county sales taxes for road and transportation projects, from which HNTB was expected to derive major revenue.
Hasan Ikhrata: dining with Faulconer-friendly developers?
The company has found itself at the heart of the South Bay toll road and a related overcharging scandal. The big firm also emerged as an issue during the failed campaign of ex-San Diego GOP mayor Kevin Faulconer to dislodge Democratic incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer from her seat on the county board of supervisors. Per an October 1 dispatch posted by the online Times of San Diego, Faulconer had been paid $100,000 by HTNB to lobby the board and employees of SANDAG, otherwise known as the San Diego Association of Governments, owner of the toll road. “Email messages and calendar entries from the San Diego Association of Governments obtained through a Public Records Act request, indicate that Faulconer met frequently last year with then SANDAG CEO Hasan Ikhrata, and arranged dinners and meetings with HNTB and top SANDAG officials.” Added the account, “HNTB, Faulconer’s client, had nine different projects they were consulting on for SANDAG. The bugs in the toll system were just one.”
Also in the lineup of big out of town contributors providing money to the pro-Gloria committee were the Expedia Group Inc. of Seattle ($2500, November 4), the Coalition for Patient Access & Innovation, sponsored by California Life Sciences of Sacramento ($85,100, October 10), and the California Apartment Association Independent Expenditure Committee, also of Sacramento ($175,000, October 16). California Life Sciences represents big pharmaceutical firms who have been battling against price caps and drug patent reforms, and the apartment association has been battling rent control.
— Matt Potter
The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.
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