This is a news feature I wrote for the San Jose State University newspaper, the Spartan Daily, about the increasing time it takes college students to graduate.  The text of the story is viewable below, as well as a direct link to the story on the newspaper’s website.

http://spartandaily.com/61424/where-has-the-four-year-degree-gone

Where has the four year degree gone at SJSU?

By Jonathan Roisman

Samuel Adams, junior health sciences major, is going to have to spend an extra semester at SJSU to graduate.

Between changing his major, working at least 25 hours a week and trying to finish all of his course work, Adams, 22, said there was very little chance he would receive his bachelors degree in health sciences in four years.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Education that measures a broad range of education statistics in the country, 36.4 percent of first-time college students who enrolled in 2002 to American universities graduated within four years.

57.3 percent of students who enrolled in 2002 graduated within six years, according to the Center.

Adams, who enrolled at SJSU as a freshman in 2008, said he didn’t feel as if he was missing out on anything for taking longer than four years to graduate, but said it was not ideal.

“I’m kind of bummed at myself that I had the possibility at the beginning of school (to graduate in four years),” he said.

Despite all of his financial responsibilities, such as paying rent and car insurance, Adams said finishing school quickly was a top priority.

Cindy Kato, director of academic advising and retention services, said she is not surprised that students take more than four years to graduate or juggle multiple responsibilities while attending school.

“Costs have gone through the roof and the state is providing less for education,” Kato said.

“Students are working more, and students these days have a slightly different lifestyle,” she said, noting that a lot of students are accustomed to living with cellphones and other personal electronics and working more to maintain their lifestyle.

“We all spend to our capacity,” Kato said. “It’s hard not to.”

She said more students these days work more to help support their family, which can conflict with school.

“(Some students) are going full-time, but the fact of the matter is they’re not passing their courses,” she said. “If they’re failing, that lengthens the time to get their degree.”

According to a study published by the private research organization, National Bureau of Economic Research, in 2010 titled “Increasing Time to Baccalaureate Degree in the United States,” the average time for completion of a bachelor’s degree increased from 4.7 years in 1972 to five years in 1992.

Kato said many students at SJSU were the first in their families to go to college and that in general they had a tougher time balancing their personal lives with school.

“Those students are more likely to work more, and their parents are more likely to have a lower socioeconomic situation,” Kato said.

Kato cited other factors for longer graduation times, including students who were not prepared for all the required studying.

“Students tend to be less and less prepared for heavy academic work coming out of high school,” she said.

Kato said academic advising was “absolutely crucial” for all students because it was easy to get off course towards graduation.

“We find that some high-unit seniors, for one reason or another, have never gotten the academic advising they need,” Kato said.

Jenna Wollbrinck, senior business administration major, agrees.

“I started going to advisers and stopped listening to my friends,” Wollbrinck, 23, said when she realized some of her classes overlapped and fulfilled the same requirement.

Wollbrinck, who enrolled at SJSU out of high school in fall 2006, said she would graduate this fall, five and a half years after enrolling.

She said not seeing an adviser early on threw off her progress by more than a year.

And she is not the only one.

Austin Neville, San Francisco State University broadcasting major, said he rarely saw an adviser for the first two years at the community college he attended before transferring, and said he had to spend a third year at community college in part because he did not see an adviser.

“I didn’t consult with an adviser, so I didn’t know what classes to take,” he said.

Neville, 21, said he was stubborn when it came to getting academic advising.

“I thought I knew what I was doing,” he said.

Neville said, however, between balancing his work and school schedules, it would have been nearly impossible to graduate in four years.

“I had to change my work schedule so that I had more time to get my school work done.”

Elizabeth Chapin, a public affairs spokesperson with the CSU Chancellor’s office, said the CSU does not have a program specifically aimed to speed up graduation times, but there were other programs that she said could be helpful.

“SB 1440, the community college transfer bill, will improve the time it takes a student to graduate as it streamlines the transfer process,” Chapin stated in an email. “The bill addresses the fact that many transfer students take extra courses that may not correctly transfer into a CSU program, which can lead to taking more time to graduate.”

Signed into legislation last year by the state government, SB 1440’s objective is to give students another way of transferring to the CSU program by designing transferable associate degrees that meet CSU requirements, according to the bill’s official website.

“Upon completion of the associate degree, the student is eligible for transfer with junior standing into the California State University (CSU) system,” the website stated.

Chapin also said some majors require more than the standard 120 units for a bachelors degree, such as engineering.

She said other things delayed graduation, such as students who had other things to do besides just go to school.

“Many students in the CSU work and have other commitments,” Chapin said. “Many of our students don’t maintain continuous enrollment, meaning that they may not take classes for one semester for one reason or another.”

According to a report published by the Office of Institutional Research at SJSU in 2010, only 41.6 percent of first-time freshmen who enrolled at SJSU in 2002 received a degree within six years.

About 51.6 percent of first-time freshmen received a degree within eight years, while 62.0 percent of transfer students graduated within five years of arriving at SJSU, according to the report.

Some students, however, are not overly concerned when they graduate.

Kevin Anderson, a radio, television and film major at SJSU, said it would take at least an extra semester to graduate, but made a lot of connections that could help him after he is finished.

Plus, he does not want to place all of the blame on the school for the extra semester, although finding classes was tough sometimes, he said.

“The thing to do is to blame the CSUs, but I’m kind of a lazy bastard,” he said.

Anderson, 21, said his biggest motivation to graduate was to help his parents.

“My parents would be stoked because they wouldn’t have to pay for as much and that’s my main motivation to (graduate),” he said.

Kato said she hoped students got more out of school than just a degree.

“It’s important that those of us in higher education who value advanced degrees need be really careful (that) we’re not elitist,” Kato said. “It’s not for everyone. A happy, satisfying life is not the same for everybody. We’re here to educate.”