College used to be the best four years of your life. For many, it's now the best six.
A study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics in 2006 found that most students complete bachelor's degrees in six years as opposed to the traditional four.
The study found that less than 35 percent of students at four-year colleges obtained their B.A. degree in four years. But 56 percent took about six years to get there.
Course loads, work hours, double majors, the cost of tuition and social activities all contribute to the increase in time spent at college, the researchers found.
Researchers conducted the study by looking though files of over 6,500 universities dating back to 1998.
Andrew Mary, survey director at NCES says the survey only looks at "first-time, full-time students."
"That may mean at some schools we would be looking at a smaller percentage, but that is the base for looking at all schools," he says.
The center's new Web site, College Navigator, allows students to evaluate and compare schools across the country. ASU has about 28 percent of students graduating in four years. according to their statistics.
Elizabeth Capaldi, executive vice president and provost of the University, says an important factor is that most students are not full-time. "Many students go to school part -ime but to graduate you need 120 hours, to do that in four years, you need to take 15 hours a semester," she says. "A more realistic measure of whether a student takes too long to graduate is if a student takes more hours than required by their program(s) before graduating. If they don't, they are being as efficient as possible."
Recent ASU psychology graduate Kristin Schackmann says without summer school she would have had a hard time graduating in four years. "I took summer school every time," she says. "If I didn't have the chance to take those classes, I may have been here longer too. "
Britney Milazzo, a journalism junior, says she is taking a full course load in addition to using units from another college. "If I didn't take classes back home I would have a hard time graduating on time," she says.
Milazzo says the cost of out-of-state tuition is a big factor. "It's hard for me to pay that money," she says. "It's like a motivator for me. Graduate on time to avoid those fees."
While these factors affect students differently, they are all potential reasons college students stay in school longer. To maintain the more traditional four-year college career, some schools are trying to provide incentives for students to graduate within their four years.
At the moment ASU does not have any incentive program, but the University does promote student success, Capaldi says. "We would like students to graduate in a major that fits them in the number of hours required," she says.
"We have started E*Advisor, which tells students exactly what to take in their major," she adds. "We also help students find a major that fits them (their interests and talent), through the degree search tool."
Mary with NCES agrees that the students should be given help and says that is point of the study.
"This started as part of the Student Right to Know Act," he says. "We track graduation rates for accountability purposes and consumer information. It's just another piece to give students to help them when looking at colleges."
Because ASU is one of the largest universities in the country, Schackmann says there are even more factors that impact her and other students' graduation times. "It's a big school," she says. "There are a lot of factors that affect people. I can see how hard it is for people to finish in four years."
Journalism senior Ryan Lorenzo is in his seventh year at ASU and will graduate in May. He says he thinks taking his time has only added to his maturation and allowed him to find a career path he is most passionate in pursuing.
"For me, I wasn't sure of what I wanted to do," he says in an electronic message. "So instead of rushing through and getting any major, I took a variety of classes to see what I really enjoyed doing. I don't want to go into a career and then regret my decision."
Lorenzo says he dabbled in sociology, communications and English before deciding on his current major choice. He says even after he graduates, he'll continue to take classes and pursue lifelong learning.
"There are things I still want to learn so I intend on taking additional classes to gain knowledge," he says.
