More students finding it difficult to graduate from college on time

In today’s world, college is no longer known as “the best four years of our lives,” but maybe the best five or six. In an article by CNN, Kevin Carey, author of the Education Trust’s report writes, “It’s atypical to get a degree in four years.” Taking more than four years in college to earn a degree is now not only for slackers, but hardworking students alike.

Some colleges may be better about pushing students to graduate on time; however, with big universities like UK, students can sometimes find it hard to get all the classes they need in a prompt manner. With the Fall 2009 semester registration creeping up on us, students are making appointments with advisors and looking to the now online-only course booklet to choose which classes they will need to take. However, even the most responsible students may have problems getting a spot in the class they need. Some classes have major restrictions, whereas others are university requirements and often do not offer enough spots for all the students that need them. This only means one thing for a UK student: graduating later, or cramming in summer courses to try and meet the four-year expectation. Either option finds to be heavy on our wallets, as Pell Grants do not cover summer courses, and often parents agree to only pay for four years of college.

Other causes, such as financial difficulties or family problems can lead to an extended graduation time, however, UK students must first deal with the ever-painful class registration. As registration windows are done by the amount of hours a student has completed, upperclassmen do have a benefit in registering, however early registration doesn’t guarantee they will get the classes they need. Often classes are only offered every other semester, or are only offered in one time slot, which can conflict with another required course. Not to mention, even if the class time fits our schedule, it isn’t guaranteed that out of the 20,000 something undergrads attending UK, we will get priority in classes with a 25 or 30 person limit. These factors cause a lot of difficulty in making our class schedules, and with the increasing trend for students to spend more time in college, the term ‘fifth year senior,’ is no longer reserved for slackers.

Kailie Kirven

integrated strategic communications sophomore