Rising tuition costs, a competitive job market and student loans are all incentives for college students to push a four-year graduation date. But a recent survey taken by University seniors shows a fairly large number of seniors are taking graduation beyond four years.

Planning and Institutional Research Assistant Director Jie Wu aided in creating the survey given to the 2004 graduating senior class. The survey studied areas anywhere from academic, social and financial information to satisfaction with the University, and results show it took 39 percent of seniors more than four years to get to their graduation date. Wu gave possible reasons as to why a four-year graduation date may be out of practice.

“If the economy isn’t good, some people will take a year off to get more money, maybe come back,” Wu said. “But we don’t always know that.”

The survey gives students 21 possible reasons why graduation took them longer than four years, but Wu said there are other circumstances that play into an extended enrollment.

“There are a lot of factors out there,” she said. “We know them, but we don’t know all of them.”

The survey also found that students in the technology department were most likely to graduate in more than four years, with a heavy workload to blame for that.

“We consider our programs to be 10-semester programs, and students must use two of their summer sessions for coursework or cooperative education,” said Donna Trautman, Ph.D., associate dean in the technology department at the University. “They are informed of this upfront through a written document that they read and sign when they first declare a college of technology major.”

Along with a heavy workload, students also claim a change of majors, 34 percent, and classes not being offered when needed, 25 percent, as the top reasons why they push the four-year graduation date.

Even students outside the technology department experience heavy workloads as well.

“I’m taking at least 20 credit hours a semester just so I can graduate at a somewhat decent rate,” said Karen Kish, a special education major. Kish plans on receiving her diploma in December 2005, prolonging her enrollment to over four years.

Kish, a senior who changed her major from biology to education, said she will be part of the statistic that extends their stay at BGSU.

Kish also complained of the lack of classes not offered when needed

“A lot of times I can’t get into the classes I need, and you can’t always get into the classes you want,” Kish said. “Why am I going to be in debt $40,000 to be wait-listed for classes?”

Dave Blevins is another student who found problems with scheduling his classes. Blevins, a junior planning to graduate in 2005, came to the University in the fall of 1998. After his freshman year, he took three semesters off to help get back on track.

“When I first came back, there were classes I wanted to take for my major, and I just ended up having to work around it,” he said. “But now that I’m an upperclassman, I’m not running into that at all.”

Although these difficulties hinder a four-year graduation, the availability of classes is sometimes beyond the department’s control.

“Some programs have a specific rotation for the schedule of courses based on many factors including availability of lab space, appropriate faculty resources and sufficient student demand,” said Trautman. “Faculty, department chairs and the dean do their best to offer all courses on a regular basis, and when student demand for a course is there, they are usually able to offer that course more often than stated in the catalog.”

Even though students are sometimes left to the unfortunate fate of a lack of available classes, students should be aware of where they stand well before their senior year.

Junior auditing is a practice used by the University to ensure students a breezy ride through college. Students are more likely to graduate earlier by seeing where they stand junior year.

“I think audits help you be aware of what the pre-requisites are,” said Linda Glomski, administrative assistant in charge of junior auditing in the journalism department. “It’s better to be surprised as a junior than a senior ready to graduate. By having those audits, you keep those sequences in order so that there are no surprises.”

Glomski said students could help shorten their enrollment rate by meeting with advisers and researching their major requirements.

“I can’t say it’s never a student’s fault [they don’t graduate on time] because it’s your degree, your graduation,” Glomski said. “The student always has a share in it.”

The importance of academic advisers is something veteran students and faculty can’t stress enough, and they just may be the key in graduating on time.

“I think advisers are like books sitting on a shelf. They’re there; they really are,” Glomski said. “You just have to open them up.”

For more information, the complete survey can be found online at www.bgsu.edu/offices/ir/studies/GraduatingSenior/2004.htm.