Cal State East Bay Wins Two National Awards for Transformative Student Success and Equity Work

Cal State East Bay has been recognized nationally for its innovative and equity-centered approach to assessment and student success — earning two national honors from NASPA — Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

The university received Gold in the 2026 NASPA Excellence Award in Assessment, Persistence, and Data Analytics and was also named Grand Bronze for Overall Excellence, which places Cal State East Bay among the top programs nationwide across all award categories.

The recognition honors the Student Affairs and Institutional Effectiveness and Research Data Partnership for Equity and Student Success, a campus-wide collaboration that helps the university better understand what supports students and what truly helps them stay, succeed and graduate. By using clear, accessible data tools and a shared approach to assessment, Student Affairs programs can demonstrate how services such as counseling, housing, recreation and equity programs make a real difference in students’ lives.

This work has helped Cal State East Bay close equity gaps, improve graduation rates and shift assessment from a paperwork exercise into a meaningful way to tell student stories and improve support.