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Sacramento State Students Say Class Crunch Keeping Them From Graduating On Time

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — On the heels of the Sacramento State president's nine-point plan to reshape the school, a new video is trying to shine a light on why so many students are failing to graduate on time.

A third-year business student captured that video inside a class dozens of people are trying to crash, but only had room for four.

Ninos Alkhas posted the video on Facebook of him trying to crash a statistics class at Sacramento State.

"I've had people comment on my Facebook page saying 'oh, this is exactly like my government class, my biology class, my chemistry class, my everything class,'" he said.

After drawing the attention of school administrators, the business finance major was invited to speak at a faculty senate meeting.

Despite claims to the contrary, President Robert Nelsen says resources have been added, including $400,000 spent on new faculty and 80 extra classes for the fall and spring semesters. It's all part of a $1 million initiative to increase faculty and classes and bolster an on-time graduation rate that currently sits at a dismal 9 percent.

"This will all be solved within a year. But it's going to take a year," he said.

Even with the cash incentive to graduate on-time Nelsen laid out in his fall address, some students say it's too little, too late.

"I think I'm about four and a half at a minimum, most likely five, depending on now the next few years do," said student Jenelle Pickard.

While Alkhas has now swapped his statistics class for a dance history course, he says it will likely take him closer to five years to graduate.

It's a tough reality Nelsen says he's ready to close the book on.

It is the No. 1 priority for this school. The No. 1 priority," he said. "Our students are our priority. If we're not graduating them, it's not right."

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