By Andy Quintana |Staff Writer|
Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare, the hare was so sure of finishing, so careless on achieving his goal, the tortoise swept him up and won the race in the end.
This story is similar to students in college.
Students get so caught up finishing within four years that they begin to get careless. They miss out on opportunities and the chance of finding out what they truly love to do with their lives.
Students are beginning to realize that we don’t have to be restricted to finishing fast we can win like the Tortoise.
I have been in college for six and a half years. I went slowly and am in a career field that I truly love.
This is the norm now for college. Five, six or even greater years of being an undergrad student.
Time Magazine Business and Money writer Victor Luckerson compared the traditional view versus the current view of the length of time it takes for students to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
“While undergraduate education is typically billed as a four-year experience, many students, particularly at public universities, actually take five, six or even more years to attain a degree,” said Luckerson. According to the Department of Education “Fewer than 40 percent of students who enter college each year graduate within four years, while almost 60 percent of students graduate in six years.”
CSUSB students considered the idea if college should be considered five plus year institutions and if it has become the new normal.
“I think five plus years is considered the norm of graduating on time for the majority of students,” said Matt Ornelas. “I understand some students have other things going on where they can’t graduate within four years, but the cool thing about college, is you can go at your own pace.”
“Yes, I think college should be changed to five years, because it is so rare now days to come across someone who has finished college within four years,” said Al Madrigal.“And because of budget cuts, schools have to make some financial decisions which can lead to students staying in college longer.”
Student Christopher Marmolego said graduating in five years has become acceptable because more students are graduating within that time frame.
Student graduate in five years because of major changes, classes being retaken, and lack of planning ahead.
I believe that the traditional way of looking at college is not healthy. Most students take this belief and try to rush through college without giving it a chance.
College is meant to be a place of self-discovery and finding who you are in the grand scheme of things.
So what if I spent almost seven years of my life in college? I gained so much from my time here, the time frame of finishing is lost on me. It has become more of “I’ll finish when I finally finish.”
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