Students forced into 5­year plan

by Alexis Lahr
Staff Writer

While most of her friends will begin their careers this fall, University of La Verne student Alicia Southorn will be returning to college to begin her fifth year. Hopefully it will be the final step in a long journey to earn her bachelor's degree. Southorn is not alone in her extra-long quest to attain a degree. ULV students Michelle Renteria, Bobby Vail and former student Buddy Kaech are already planning on taking at least one extra year to graduate college.

These students are part of a growing trend of taking longer than the traditional four years to graduate with a bachelor's degree. Many of these students had planned to get their degree in four years or less, however more of them are being forced to extend their college experience for another year, or even two. Some reasons for this include transferring schools, taking light course loads, waiting to declare a major and poor preparation for college.

According to the 1999 Annual Report from the California State University, the average time to complete a bachelor's degree for their new freshmen is 5.7 years. For new transfer students it takes 3.7 years, in addition to any schooling they may already have completed.

The numbers are not much better at ULV.

According to statistics from the Common Data Set initiative, out of 227 students who enrolled in 1994, only 72 graduated within four years. This means 68 percent of the students in that class took longer than four years to graduate.

Clearly, attending a four-year university does not mean spending only four years to get a bachelor's degree. Not only is this a growing trend among students at so-called four-year universities; it is also becoming common to take longer than the average two years to get an associate's degree at many community colleges. In "Reframing the Conversation About Student Success," the National Council of Instructional Administrators said community college students succeed in many ways, but they "rarely can be called 'two-year students'."

Although individual circumstances differ, the previously mentioned students have more than a few similarities. None of them planned on taking more than four years to graduate college, and this change in plans has created unforeseen challenges for some of them.

Southorn said she feels somewhat disappointed that she will be staying in college for another semester. She is very involved at ULV and has participated in campus activities such as a sorority and student government for the past four years. She said had she known earlier that she would not be graduating this May, she would have been able to run for positions in her organizations and stay involved. Now she worries that she may be looked at as "too old to be participating in traditional undergrad roles."

Southorn feels she is caught between "being an undergrad and being out of place in the social scene."

Renteria is also feeling the stress of staying an extra year, however her concerns do not involve campus activities or social life. She said she is feeling the financial burden of paying for another year of tuition at ULV. She said it would not be an issue if she were at a state school and not an expensive private college. Renteria added that the extra year of college put a damper on "the vision I had for myself at my age."

Vail, like his classmates Southorn and Renteria, is not enthusiastic about his extra time at ULV. Because of a grant, finances will not be an issue for him, but seeing many of his friends graduate without him will be. Vail said it will be hard to see the people he started college with leave him with one more year to complete. The extended time at ULV has also impacted his sports career. Vail, who is on the track and field team, is only eligible to compete for the college for four years. Since he has to stay an extra year, he will not be able to be part of the team for his entire college career. Because of his situation, he has chosen to be a red shirt player this year so that he can be part of La Verne's team during his final year.

Kaech is a former ULV student who recently transferred to Washington State University. He said he does not mind spending longer earning his bachelor's degree because he likes college and even plans to go to graduate school. However, Kaech added that he would definitely be feeling a financial impact if he had stayed at ULV and not transferred to a less expensive public university.

There are several reasons why it is taking undergraduate students longer to graduate. Kimberly Adams from the California Postsecondary Education Commission said one significant reason is that "because of budget restrictions, most colleges and universities have often had to cut courses and sections, making it harder for students to enroll in courses required to complete their majors."

Adams said this, along with other factors, has changed the general definition of the average time to complete a degree to "one and one-half times the normal rate of four years."

Another reason it is taking longer to get a degree is that students are spending more time at community college before transferring to four-year institutions. They are also taking light course loads. Renteria said one factor causing this is employment.

" A lot of people are having to work while attending school and it will have effects on their schooling schedule and time commitments," she said.

The CSU report stated 79 percent of their students hold jobs during school. Clearly it is no longer a common standard for the majority of students to solely go to school or solely work. Students seem to be balancing both, yet they are taking longer to complete their education.

Transferring schools can also make it difficult to graduate on time. This has been the main reason Vail must stay in school for another year. When he transferred to ULV his freshman year he lost nearly all of his units from his previous school. "I had only completed 15-17 units after my first year," he said.

Waiting to declare a major can also lead to a longer college experience. Students used to be able to wait to declare a major and still graduate on time, but that is not the case anymore. Adams said more units have been added to some academic majors to reflect the increase in information and knowledge in those fields. The additional units make it nearly impossible to wait to declare a major and still graduate on time.

Neither Kaech nor Southorn declared their major until late sophomore/early junior year. Kaech said it is going to take him five years simply because he has a science major that requires a large number of courses. He said if he were going to graduate in four years he would have had to declare his major his freshman year. Southorn's situation is similar. She was not sure what she wanted to study until her junior year. Because of such a late decision, Southorn must stay another year.

Another reason it is taking longer to get a degree is the level of preparation of students entering college. According to a study done by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and Cal Poly, many California colleges have a large percentage of incoming freshmen who need remedial courses in math and English. Having to take these courses means delaying the academic progress of students.

As these students have explained, the effects of taking longer than four years to graduate can be negative. Depending on the university a student attends and how much longer he/she must stay, it can be a huge financial burden. It also alters the plans that students have for their lives and careers. As Southorn explained, it can also place students in an uncomfortable position as far as social life and campus involvement.

As far as how to change this trend, the students have a few suggestions. Southorn recommended that students have concrete goals prior to entering college. She added that students "need to be certain of their major and learn how to effectively manage course loads ranging from 17-18 units."

Kaech also agreed that students must know what they want to do if they want to stay on the four-year track. "If you don't know what you want to do, it's very hard to get it done in four years," he said.

Renteria suggested that better guidance from counselors is needed. She also said students need to "take the initiative to make sure they are on top of their scheduling of classes."

Vail feels that colleges need to change the way they handle general education classes. Every university has different requirements, which causes frustration for students who transfer schools. Many students end up taking core classes over again because the credits do not always transfer between schools. Vail feels that improving this would cut down on wasted classes for transfer students.

According to these students, if students want to increase their chances at earning their bachelor's degree in only four years, these are the things they need to do: plan on taking a full load of units every semester, do not transfer schools, choose their major before they get to college and make sure they like it, because they cannot afford to change their minds. College used to be a time where students would explore different areas and attempt to "find themselves."

Now they need to have their college experience and major planned out before they even start. Unless changes and improvements are made, this is the path that students are going to have to take if they want to graduate in four years.