Studies show university students in the United States are averaging five to six years to complete their bachelor’s degrees.
According to a study released by U.S. News and World Reports from 2010, students from several universities are taking more than five years to graduate, while some students take up to six years to graduate.
At Cornell University, 92 percent of its freshman class took five years to graduate. At the University of Florida, 82 percent of its freshman class took six years to graduate.
A report released by the National Center for Education Statistics showed that on average more women take longer to graduate than men, with 58 percent of first-time female students completing their degrees within six years while 53 percent of first-time male students graduated within six years.
Students at UW are no different than other university students across the country and reasons for why it is taking them longer to complete their degrees vary. Some students are choosing to stay because they fear the job market may not be so promising.
Mary Ridgeway is currently in her sixth year at UW. Ridgeway is still in the process of receiving her psychology degree due to a few setbacks.
“My senior year, I decided to add another major, which was criminal justice. I wanted to increase the possibility of getting a job after graduation,” Ridgeway said.
Ridgeway also fell behind in some courses due to extra hours she was working to pay for her expenses.
She also didn’t choose her initial major until the second semester of her freshman year.
“I chose psychology because it seemed interesting. I also chose criminal justice as a second major because it was my fallback major,” she said.
If she had already graduated, she said her plans would be to join the Peace Corps and help serve those who are living in developing countries with limited resources for two years. Although, she says, this could still be the plan for when she does graduate.
“I would love to have the opportunity to travel and the idea of working abroad is really appealing and I love experiencing other cultures,” Ridgeway said. “And I just really want to help people in developing countries.”
Ridgeway also is drawn to the educational appeals of the Peace Corps, as those who have served their full terms in the Peace Corps will often times receive reduced tuition for graduate school or college credit for volunteering.
After the Peace Corps, Ridgeway is still not entirely sure of what the future holds.
“It all feels like something that’s really far away because I still haven’t graduated, but I’d probably go to graduate school. Not necessarily in psychology, though,” Ridgeway said.
Ridgeway says that with her psychology and criminal justice background and with possible experience with the Peace Corps, she would look forward to the opportunity of getting a job with the government.
Bryce Huhtala is another example of a student who was in no rush to complete his degree. Huhtala began college in 2001 before graduating with an art degree in 2009. He originally chose a major in computer science before realizing it wasn’t his passion.
“I did a lot with computers as a teenager and I took an aptitude test and it said a career in computer science could be an option for me and it was one of the higher paying jobs,”Huhtala said. “But the major focused a lot on business solutions and it wasn’t very inspiring, so I switched to art.”
Huhtala’s path also fluctuated within his new art major as he switched from drawing to graphic design and then back to drawing before graduating.
Though he has now graduated, he is still looking for career opportunities and dreams of becoming an illustrator or a graphic novelist.
Even with many students taking extra time to graduate, some students still manage to pull off their degree in four years, but it is no easy task.
Beth Cochran, a class of 2012 graduate, said she graduated in four years but not without some effort.
“I always took more than the recommended class load, sometimes taking 20 credits a semester and summer classes. I also graduated from high school a semester early.”
Though she has graduated, Cochran has returned to UW as a post-baccalaureate student, which allows her to teach alongside university professors while she prepares for graduate school.
Cochran began college as an art education major, but dropped the education major because she realized she didn’t want to teach at the elementary or secondary level and would rather teach college students.
She put forth the effort to graduate on time, but says she doesn’t think it makes that much of a difference if a student graduates on time.
“I graduated on time, but I don’t think it really matters that much. I’m still here taking classes,” Cochran said.
