A report released on Tuesday shows that students are taking longer to graduate from four-year colleges; however, students are still eager to get out as soon as possible.
Fifty-two percent of full-time students and 32 percent of part-time students complete their bachelor’s degree within six years, according to completecollege.org.
“I heard from some people it takes five years at least to get a communication degree here,” said Nick Holland, junior communications major at Cal State Long Beach.
Full-time students take 4.7 years to earn their bachelor’s, and part-time students take 5.6 years, according to completecollege.org.
Some students said juggling work makes it difficult for them to find classes that accommodate their busy schedules.
“I don’t like to take morning classes because I work late at night,” Holland said. “Ideal classes would be late morning or noon-ish.”
According to the report, 54 percent of CSULB students graduate within six years.
Even with the bleak job market, students still want to finish as soon as possible.
“I do want to finish in four years,” Holland said.
He went on to say he’s not worried about job competition in the economy right now.
Sydney Thren, sophomore English major at CSULB, said she wants to complete her education in four years.
“I think I’m very determined and, if four years is what I want to do it in, I’ll get it done in four years,” Thren said.
Thren has plans of becoming a teacher, and, although she hears that profession is highly competitive in this economy, she remains hopeful.
Referring to the advice her mother gave her, Thren said, “When the economy goes down, it eventually goes back up.”
Although it has been taking longer for students to graduate, Monica Gonzalez is an exception to this rule. Gonzalez, a senior sociology major, will be graduating in spring 2012 even though she commutes from an hour away.
Seventy-five percent of students are college commuters who deal with juggling family life, jobs and school, according to the report.
“It hasn’t been [too] hard, I’ve been able to get the classes I need,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t work, [but] I do commute from the San Fernando Valley — it’s about an hour away.”
However, she said she understands it hasn’t been as easy for other students.
“I have a friend and she’s having a hard time because she works,” Gonzalez said. “She comes in the morning [for school], works, then comes back again [to school] at night.”
“Part-time students rarely graduate — even when they have twice as much time,” completecollege.org reported.
Gonzalez said her friend will not be graduating in the spring with her.
Still, Gonzalez, like Holland and Thren, said she is not afraid of the competitive job market that awaits students after graduating college.
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