CSU Young Males of Color Consortium Receives $3.2 Million to Improve Higher Education Access, Support, and Retention

The California State University (CSU) Young Males of Color (YMOC) Consortium, a collaboration spearheaded by and housed at CSUDH, has received $3,235,000 to support its goal of creating systemic change leading to increased retention and graduation of male students of color.

The new funding will enable YMOC to expand its reach by developing institutional partnerships between 16 CSU campuses and their affiliated community colleges. Together, the institutions will create effective intersegmental program models and strategy recommendations for supporting male students of color that can be replicated across the state.

“Community college is often the primary pathway for men of color to enter higher education in California,” said Matthew Smith, co-founder and co-director of YMOC and CSUDH Senior Associate Vice President of Student Life/Dean of Students. “If we’re truly going to move the needle in terms of success, we have to make sure they are successfully navigating community college and making the transition to four-year institutions.

“Furthermore, men of color programs are often underfunded and understaffed. This seed money will be crucial in helping our institutional partners achieve their objectives and dream beyond their resources.”

YMOC builds on the CSU’s Graduation Initiative 2025, and anticipates increasing the transfer, retention, and graduation rates of up to 800 students during the three years of funding. Long term, YMOC will measure success based on institution-specific and community-focused changes aimed at improving outcomes for male students of color.

“Excellence, access, support, and community are cornerstones of the CSU and the Dominguez Hills campus,” said CSUDH President Thomas A. Parham. “We have to interrogate and understand the experiences of Black, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American young men, and how our institutions can dismantle and appropriately address the barriers and inequities that inhibit their success.”

The transformative gift is from four funding organizations, all of which support access to and persistence in higher education for underserved groups: Ballmer Group ($1.5 million), College Futures Foundation ($700,000), ECMC Foundation ($585,000), and Ichigo Foundation ($450,000).

“What makes this funding so unique is that we entered into pre-award conversations with all four organizations at the table together,” said William Franklin, co-founder and co-director of YMOC and CSUDH Vice President of Student Affairs. “We would not only like to thank them for funding ­the initiative, but also for serving as thought partners. With a challenge so huge, if we want to make a collective impact, it starts with courageous conversations.”

YMOC was established in 2017 in response to the urgent need to transform higher education to improve outcomes for young men of color. The consortium operates across the 23-campus CSU system to develop educators, strengthen student success strategies, and establish evaluation metrics for programs.