Washington — Higher education’s obsession with graduation rates has stolen the focus away from the desperate societal need for more college graduates, said F. King Alexander, president of California State University at Long Beach, during a presentation here today at the annual meeting of the American Council on Education.

He said those misplaced priorities can lead some universities to admit fewer lower-income students, who are typically less prepared academically and less likely to graduate. For example, Mr. Alexander cited an unnamed public institution that improved its graduation rate by enrolling a higher percentage of wealthier, out-of-state students.

“Poor students cost more” to graduate, he said. But underserved populations and the nation’s economy require that colleges tackle those extra costs and risks.

Graduation is the No. 1 priority at Long Beach, a campus with 31,000 undergraduates, 35 percent of whom are eligible for Pell Grants. That effort includes everything from asking faculty members to report on class-skipping students to the printing of napkins for the dining halls that read, “Graduation begins today.” —Paul Fain