In 2014, California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) received the national award from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) for Excellence and Innovation in Student Success and Completion, recognizing record high graduation rates with a diverse student population, significantly above comparable institutions. Moreover, these high rates were obtained for cohorts who entered the university during the Great Recession, which triggered major higher education budget cuts. CSULB launched an institution-wide effort to boost completion branded as the "Highly Valued Degree Initiative" (HVDI), with the name intended to reflect the university's commitment to maintain degree quality while improving retention and completion overall and for all student ethnic, gender, income, and major subgroups. Detailed in this article is a broad set of strategies used by CSULB to accomplish those gains in the graduation rate. Lessons learned from implementing this initiative are discussed.