The Online Reflector

A recent study shows that students are spending too long in college, with less than one in three Indiana college students graduating in the estimated four years.

This information comes from an article posted by wthr.com on Sept. 27, entitled “Study says students spending too much time in college.” The article also stated that only 61 percent of students seeking bachelor’s degrees finish within eight years.

According to Associate Registrar Kristine Dozier, 52 percent of full-time freshmen who started attending the University of Indianapolis in the fall semester of both 2002 and 2003 graduated within six years.

Dozier said a lot of variables keep students from graduating on time, including financial constraints and indecisiveness.

“I think that students are pushed into making some kind of decision when they are in high school, because high schools like to report on their numbers and say ‘We have this many students going to college and this many going into this field,’” Dozier said.

Another factor that keeps students in school longer is taking the opportunity to study abroad.

Junior sports marketing major Kelsey Jones will go to school for an extra semester and said that a main reason is the fact that she took the minimum number of credit hours she could for her study abroad semester in England.

According to Dozier, the downside to graduating late is that academic scholarships tend to run out after four years and loans also can change after a student exceeds four years.

However, she also sees a positive side to staying in school longer.

“For some students it’s almost safer right now, because it is hard to find a job,” Dozier said. “It’s safer to continue on with their [students’] college career versus going out into the work field. It’s a scary thing transitioning from college to real life. It’s a huge transition.”

Jones also believes that waiting to graduate will be a safer option.

“I’m hoping it [taking an extra semester of school] will work to my advantage, with the job market being a little less competitive, since I won’t be graduating with all the seniors in the summer,” Jones said.

Jones said she usually takes 12-15 credit hours a semester and dropped a class each semester for her first two years at UIndy.

“I’m with not graduating on time because it was worth it to study abroad. And I also know that not a lot of people graduate on time,” she said. “My sister has been in college since 2005 and will be graduating this December.”

Dozier said that incoming freshmen are advised to take 14-16 credit hours. Students must take an average of 15.5 credit hours over eight semesters to reach the 124 credit hours needed to graduate.

Senior athletic training major Amanda Hickle said that although she is graduating on time, she sometimes has run into problems trying to take classes, because some of the times of the classes she needed conflicted.

“I do think that happens every once in a while with some students,” Dozier said. “I don’t think that it is usually a huge factor in a student’s taking longer to graduate. I’m a huge proponent of student responsibility. We [in the Registrar’s Office] put the tools out there for students with curriculum guides and academic catalogs and the catalog, shows in which terms we’re offering classes.”

Hickle usually takes around 17 credit hours a semester and also has taken summer classes.

The aforementioned article stated that the more time students spend in college, the less likely they are to graduate. Dozier said that there are measures students can take to help them graduate on time.

“Make sure you are responsible for [the] classes you are taking and know what you need to take by being familiar with your major and gen. ed. curriculum guides,” Dozier said. “Make sure that you don’t leave all the decisions to your advisor. They [the advisors] are there to help you and to guide, but they are not there to make those decisions for you. When it all comes down to it, it’s each person’s responsibility to make sure they know what they’re doing.”