Students opting for three-year degrees may want to think twice about the actual benefits of graduating early, according to a few ASU advisers.
Casey Self, executive director for University College Academic Advising, said a three-year degree may be an attractive option for some students.
“If you know what you want to do and you’re disciplined … I think this can definitely work for students,” Self said.
He said it depends on the individual student’s goals.
“I think students in general are very interested in finishing as quick as they can,” Self said. “There are ways to do it but it definitely takes discipline and focus.”
Andrew Edwards, an academic adviser for the Department of Political Science, said in an e-mail that students can technically take 53 credits per year, including winter and summer sessions, if they want to, and students can petition to take even more overall credits.
“Each college has their own standards for making decisions on these petitions, but usually overall GPA and semester GPAs in semesters where a student took a high number of credits are factors,” Edwards said.
Dual enrollment and advanced placements credits from high school can help students get a three-year degree, he said.
But shaving a year off of the normal college career isn’t necessarily going to save much cash.
“While I have seen students complete degrees in three years or less, it is pretty rare, and it only saves money in some situations,” Edwards said.
He said Arizona residents pay the same tuition for seven credits and over, so taking 18 credits can save money.
For non-resident students, however, 12 credits and over cost the same tuition.
“As advisors, we normally recommend 15 credits a semester for
most students, as we want them to graduate in four years, so you can
typically only add one additional class in a semester,” Edwards said.
He said very few students can successfully complete 18 credits a semester, though.
Summer and winter classes save time but still cost tuition money, he said.
“If there is a job offer waiting for a student that has a time deadline, taking extra classes may be a very good idea,” Edwards said.
However, he said students planning on going to graduate school may want to take fewer classes a semester so they can do better in them.
“It may take some extra time to do internships and research with faculty members, but these can be invaluable in the job search and graduate school applications respectively,” Edwards said.
According to the ASU Web site for the fall 2009 and spring 2010 semester for the Tempe, Downtown and online campuses, three years of tuition, including extra fees, costs $9,246 for students who take seven credits or more.
That tuition rate is only for resident students who were admitted prior to summer 2008 with a “commitment period not expired.”
For four years, under the same conditions, it would cost $12,328 for tuition and extra fees.
Anais Durney, a third-year student in public relations, said she will be graduating a year early in spring 2010.
“I kind of just am more motivated to get school done and over with,” Durney said.
She said she took several classes during the summer at Mesa Community College and had Advanced Placement and dual-enrollment credits from high school.
“For me, I don’t party or anything and just like to get my school work done,” Durney said.
She said she started out as a broadcast journalism major and switched to public relations.
“When I first started … I thought I would graduate with the rest of my class in four years,” Durney said.
She said she has several reasons for wanting to finish early, including getting married next summer.
“I always wanted to get my degree before getting married,” Durney said.
She said with the help of her adviser, she decided the three-year degree held more opportunities for her.
“I’ll still have time to go back if I want to get a different degree,” Durney said.
She said she doesn’t really believe graduating early will help her a lot career-wise.
“They just want to see your experience … doing an internship will help me with that,” Durney said.
Elaine Stover, associate director of Career Services, said getting a three-year degree isn’t necessarily the best option career-wise.
“[Students] will just be competing with people who finished that year anyway,” Stover said.
She said employers mainly look at what students did in school, not how long they took.
“For those students who have expressed that as an interest of theirs … that might be a great opportunity for them,” Stover said.
Reach the reporter at reweaver@asu.edu
