It used to be that kids went to college for four years. But a new study, released this spring, shows that most students today take about five years to graduate. The problem is particularly bad at public universities, where, on average, only half the students get out in four years–compared with 80 percent of private-school kids. At the University of Michigan, fully 65 percent graduate on time. But at UCLA, only 42 percent graduate in four years, and less than a third of the students in the Texas university system do. These long-timers have become a nightmare for university administrators, who over the next decade will need to make room for the biggest crop of incoming freshmen since the baby boom.
Many of the slower-moving students insist that they’re not being lazy or indecisive–quite the opposite. They’d like to graduate expeditiously, but state budget cuts have made it impossible to take all the courses they need in time. Factor in the slightest change in course, and you’re in for the long haul. Anne Keldermans, 23, never considered an economics major until she was forced into an econ course when an accounting class she needed was cut. Now, with a minor in business administration, she hopes to graduate from Illinois State more than five years after she started.
To be competitive in a tough job market, some students say they need two or three degrees. “You have to find a way to give yourself an edge,” says Brent Chaney, 21, student president at UT-Austin, whose double major in English and government will take five years. Student jobs are another issue. The American Council on Education says that 80 percent of students now work about 20 hours a week during the school year. While many are trying to pay tuition, others work to improve their quality of life. Affluent kids are as likely to have jobs as lower-income students, but they work for “a car payment, a cell phone, a nicer apartment, a spring-break trip,” says Jacqueline King, of ACE.
Now a number of state schools are launching initiatives aimed at moving kids more quickly through the system. The University of Texas has created the $22 million “B-On-Time” program, which offers select students the chance to turn loans into grants if they graduate in four years with a B average. Illinois is guaranteeing freshmen that their tuition won’t increase–as long as they finish in four years. UCLA vice provost Judy Smith has started monitoring students’ progress. Those who don’t accrue enough credits per semester face probation or expulsion. Administrators concede that students don’t like these not-so-subtle hints–but they say they’re necessary. “When [students] say they want to stay longer than four years, I ask them if they’re prepared to write to a well-qualified freshman who won’t get in as a result.” That argument doesn’t win them all over, she says, but it does make them think. And that’s what college is supposed to be all about.
