The four-year myth
- judsonmarka
- Dec 8, 2015
- 3 min read
Four-year plans, university standards for completing a degree program, are becoming less of a reality.
A 2013 study by Complete College America (CCA), a non-profit focused on increasing the number of degree-holding Americans, found that only 19 percent of bachelor’s-seeking students completed their program in four years.
With the average student requiring 4.9 years to complete what should be a 4-year degree, what is to blame?
“I’m afraid I might mess up the whole college thing,” said communication sophomore, Kristen Smith. “This is literally the rest of your life. So yeah, a few things can go wrong.”
There are countless potential reasons for the recent increase in graduation time. Notably, students are not taking the required amount of coursework to finish within four years. Staying on track requires students take 30 credit hours per year. Often this is broken down into 12 during spring and fall with six in the summer. Alternately, some opt to take 15 in the spring and fall with a summer vacation.
Only half of students enroll in the necessary number of credits each semester to stay on track to graduate on time. Additionally, students are dedicating more time to part-time jobs to help offset the rising cost of their education.
Further problems arise from transfer students, a common occurrence due to the modern community/state college system. Students are able to walk-in to these colleges and automatically transfer to universities upon completion of their associate of arts degree.
Sixty percent of students transfer schools at some point during their collegiate career. Nearly half of these students lose credits in this process due to broken transfer policies. Students are often forced to repeat courses at different schools due to issues in transition.
Constantly changing degree requirements make taking required courses difficult and often offsets students’ projected course path. One in five students stated in the CCA study they were not able to enroll in a degree-mandated course due to unavailability.
Such was the case with graphic design student, Megan Porter. “I applied to a limited access course at the end of my junior year, only to have my advisor tell me I should’ve applied at the beginning of my sophomore year.”
What this equates to is both a burden on the student’s finances and the nation’s economy. Each additional year at a university costs students around $9,000 in tuition. Considering the average bachelor’s degree graduate obtains 134 credits, well over the required 120, students are paying big money for degrees.
The excess credits boost student loan withdrawals and increase federal funding, costing the public $11.5 billion in investment. The cost also hits students with a loss in potential income by missing out on an average wage of $45,000 per year.
This level of stress, when placed on a young mind, can lead to decisions that might not be in one’s best interest. Changing programs early on, while potentially beneficial, might be a terrifying and stressful task to a poorly-advised student.
“I had already committed to my business degree, so the thought of changing was intimidating,” said now photography major, Nick Norris. “Once I finally realized I needed to change for my well-being, I had progressed so far that I hesitated again. I spent a lot of time holding myself back.”
Not all students face the same fate as those 81 percent spending more than four years on their degree. International business sophomore, Daniella Carrera, described the extremely structured program exchange students are placed in.
Carrera, a Colombian native, said, “International students are required to take a set number of courses per year. We can play around with how many each semester but this guarantees us that we’ll graduate in four years.”
“So, I probably will beat the odds and get my degree in four years,” said Carrera. But where does this leave the overwhelming majority of students who won’t be on the same timeline?
Seemingly, the best solution to the matter is to create a clear path for students to follow, allowing them to graduate within four years. Offering students more structure and concise requirements will help reinstate the four-year bachelor plan as an educational norm, not a myth.
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