The U has begun a campaign to encourage students to graduate in four years. While the arguments look good on paper, the fact is that students should be allowed as much time as they need to graduate.
The reasons that students have for taking five, six or even seven years to earn what was traditionally a four-year degree are generally pretty pragmatic-students have to work, and therefore can only take so many credit hours.
Paul Brinkman, associate vice president for budget and planning, said that “an average U undergraduate takes just 12 credit hours a semester,” commenting that such a student will not be able to graduate in four years.
Students aren’t stupid-they know that by only taking 12 credits per semester they are delaying their graduation. The point is that they either can’t afford to take more than 12 hours per semester or don’t have the time to do so. Students here work to put themselves through school. Sometimes they are married and/or have children.
To expect students to magically change their life situations is beyond pointless-it borders on arrogance.
Furthermore, students want the freedom to explore different majors, or take a semester off, or go on a study abroad or participate in internships-so they obviously aren’t going to be able to finish in four years.
While this process could be viewed as a series of setbacks, it is actually healthy.
Is it realistic to expect 18-year-olds to know what they want to do with their lives-or reward someone for not being able to recognize that he or she is on the wrong path? Are we really going to punish students who have the foresight and courage to switch majors?
Besides, no matter how many times a student changes his or her major, none of that education was wasted. The fact that a student might know how to balance redox reactions as well as read e.e. cummings or speak Italian does not devalue his or her college experience-rather, it enriches it.
We know the U is concerned that when prospective students look at our school, they see that the average student takes more than four years to graduate. We know that the U drops in various rankings because of this.
But guess what-it’s time to just deal with some of the realities of the U. Why should we care how we look to outsiders?
The U is here to educate students, not look good in the U.S. News and World Report. While it’s nice to want to remove roadblocks from graduation, it’s counterproductive to force students to complete their educations before they’re ready.