Changing majors, transferring from one school to another and stringent graduate school requirements are just a few of the factors keeping college students from graduating in the traditional four years, according to a recent study.
The study, conducted by the National Center for Education, shows UNM students are not alone in stretching out their four-year college experience to five or even six years.
The study is based on data from one million students nationwide, including UNM, and showed that only 33 percent of students who started college full-time in fall 1996 graduated in four years.
Seventeen percent graduated in five years and five percent finished in six, according to the study's results, released last Thursday. The remaining students took longer to earn a degree or never finished at all.
At UNM, of the 2,714 freshmen enrolled full-time in the fall of 1999, only 10 percent graduated in four years, said University College Dean Peter White.
While some may be quick to blame these low numbers on the laziness of the current college population, in reality, there are many factors, like the constantly rising cost of tuition, working against them, he said.
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According to statistics published by the NCAA, 46 percent of students enrolled full-time at UNM in fall 1996 graduated within the allotted six-year period given to students to receive their undergraduate degree.
For many UNM students like senior Lilliana Sanchez, who plans to go to medical school after graduating, it is her future plans that are holding her back.
"I think a lot of it depends on what you want to do after you graduate," Sanchez said. "I want to go to medical school and there are a lot of extra requirements on top of those required by my major, so it takes extra time."
In recent years, UNM has switched its focus from helping students graduate within four years to concentrating on the importance of freshmen making it through the first year of college, White said.
"UNM is an urban university," he said. "There aren't too many programs in place to help students graduate because there are a lot of socio-economic factors that are the reason for students not graduating which are beyond our control."
Instead of placing emphasis on getting students in and out in four years, the University has tried to accommodate students through such programs as the Lottery Success Scholarship, which, combined with the Bridge to Success Scholarship, pays for nine consecutive semesters of college, White said.
In addition, programs designed to help students with the transition from high school to college, such as Freshman Learning Communities as well as Introductory Skills courses, have led to record freshmen retention rates over the past three years, which White said he hopes will produce higher graduation rates in years to come.
