Most need 6 years to get college degree

By Patricia Alex

The Record (Hackensack N.J.)

(MCT)

HACKENSACK, N.J. — If you're counting on four years of college tuition, think again: It now takes the majority of students at least six years to earn a bachelor's degree.

And the federal government this year began tracking the eight-year graduation rate — an acknowledgement that more students are taking longer than ever before to get their diploma.

"It was a long road," said Dwight Braswell, 30, of his decade-long college career. "It does cost you more, but I got some life experience."

Braswell graduated from Rutgers University in May with a bachelor's degree in business. The road to his diploma took him through four states, several jobs, marriage, fatherhood and his twenties.

But at least he finished.

Only about two-thirds of those who start college wind up earning a degree within six years, experts say. And there is growing concern that the U.S. has slipped from first place a generation ago to 12th in the world in the percentage of young adults who have completed college.

Just over 40 percent of Americans ages 25 to 34 have a degree, compared with almost 56 percent in Canada, which tops the list, according to figures released by the College Board last month.

In a speech before the Urban League last week, President Obama said the nation's economic success depends on regaining its perch atop the list. "We've tolerated a status quo where America lags behind other nations," the president said.

Obama is waiting on Congress to fund his American Graduation Initiative, which has a goal of producing 5 million more college graduates. "It's essential that we put a college degree in reach of everyone who wants it," he said.

Indeed, with tuition at public colleges in New Jersey, for example, topping $10,000 annually and private schools costing as much as three times that, finances remain a prime reason that students take longer to earn a degree and, in many cases, don't make it to the finish line, experts said.

"We do an exit survey of students who don't return and, for the most part, it's for financial reasons," said Ed Weil, provost at William Paterson University.

At different points in his college career, Nick DePue worked three part-time jobs while attending William Paterson. He graduated in May with a degree in biology, six years after he started.

"It's possible to graduate in four years, but you need the right set of circumstances to get it done," said DePue. "I had to wait to get some classes, and it's hard to handle the workload along with the job."

For two generations, the nation has worked to increase access to college. And it succeeded: Lower-income groups and minorities are better represented now, and colleges are educating more students than ever.

College enrollment nationwide has leaped by a third since 1986, from 12.7 million to 18.7 million today, according to federal data, with some of the largest growth in community colleges and other public schools.

"We have many more non-traditional students than we've ever had before," said Weil from William Paterson, where the four-year completion rate is just over 20 percent, according to the federal data. "It's not the student immediately out of high school who has the time and financial wherewithal to complete (a degree) in four years."

Nationally, only about 36 percent of students finish within four years, according to the federal data. The three-year graduation rate for community college is even more dismal, with less than a quarter earning an associate's degree.

The federal stats are flawed given that they exclude those who transfer and graduate from schools other than those at which they started. Experts are looking for other ways to measure success at community colleges, where many, if not most, students wind up transferring.

But even taking problems with the data into account, the rates are too low, advocates say.

"We can't argue with society's definition of success, which is a degree," said Jerry Ryan, president of Bergen Community College.

While 40.4 percent of Americans ages 25 to 34 hold an associate's degree or higher, the rates drop for minorities and low-income students. Thirty percent of African-Americans and 20 percent of Latinos in that age group hold degrees. And the College Board found that students from the highest-income families were eight times as likely as those from the poorest families to graduate from college.

"We have a long way to go, there is work to be done," said Christen Pollack from the College Board. The group called for changes beginning in preschool, with the aim of boosting college completion rates. Those include better advising and aligning high school curriculums with college expectations. The need for remedial coursework is one reason it takes many students longer to finish.

DePue, the biology major from William Paterson, complained of the number of general education classes required to complete his degree. "To be perfectly blunt, a great number of college credits aren't useful anyway," he said.

Kristin Bonczek said she would have had to take classes every summer in order to complete her physical education major at Paterson in five years. Now she plans to graduate next May after six years.

Both DePue and Bonczek said they never expected their college careers to last so long and were unaware that six years was now the norm. "I absolutely had the expectation that it would take four years," Bonczek said.

Indeed, for many students and parents, the assumption of a four-year degree dies hard, and many have not budgeted the time or money for an extended stay on campus.

Colleges insist they are working hard to streamline schedules and beef up support services, particularly for first-year students. Freshman year, it seems, can be make-it-or-break-it time in a college career, and a strong first year can be key to completing a degree.

Area colleges have instituted first-year programs designed to keep students on track. They focus on study and research skills, time management and social adjustment. "We've been working on this very actively and deliberately," said Karen Pennington, vice president of student development at Montclair State University.

She noted that students often "stop out" rather than drop out, taking a break of a semester or two for family obligations or other reasons.

Some stop out longer than others. Passaic County Community College in May graduated a 52-year-old grandmother who first came to the school in Paterson in 1978. "Some people would consider this a failure," said Steve Rose, the college president. "But to me it's one of the greatest stories of persistence and success."