It came to Brittany Corner in the dead of winter, halfway through her fourth year of college: she was tired of school.
"I'm over college in a way," said Corner, who is now in her fifth year pursuing a bachelor's degree. "I would rather have my job and be doing what I'm going to school for instead of continually being in class for it."
Corner, a National Student Exchange participant who spent her fall 2008 semester at USC, had always assumed she would finish college in four years. But this year, after returning to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne from her USC stint, she realized she might be in it for the long haul.
Fifth-year seniors are not an unusual sight at public universities like USC. The school had a four-year graduation rate of 45.8 percent and a five-year graduation rate of 66.1 percent in 2003, the last year for which the Office of Institutional Assessment and Compliance has complete data. In other words, many students are not calling quits after four years without a diploma.
Students like Corner who choose to go into collegiate overtime face obstacles, not the least of which are financial. All South Carolina and general university scholarships run out after four years, said Cindy Peachey, USC's senior assistant director for Scholarships and State Programs. This includes the Carolina, University, McNair and in-state LIFE scholarships. Federal loans and grants, too, have a time limit, she said.
"They basically have five years to get through a program before they're not eligible for any additional loans or grants," Peachey said. "After five years, we'd have to have a plan as to when the student is planning to graduate."
Corner, who anticipates two more years of undergraduate study to complete a double major in Spanish and secondary education, said she was grateful to her mother for paying her way through three years of college. Where does the money come from now? Federal loans, for the time being. In her mind, it is a calculated risk. She's banking on paying off the loans in a better job market.
"We were just kind of looking at the pros and cons. If I were to graduate now, what would that look like for my future?" Corner said. "It was just more about the job security and being realistic with myself."
One thing that led to Corner's extended college stay was her declaration of a double major this summer. According to the Office of Institutional Assessment and Compliance, the four-year graduation rate for 2002 was 32.4 percent for students who stayed in their original school, compared with 12.1 percent for students who changed to a different academic field.
Susan Weir, USC's assistant vice provost for student success initiatives, said there is an opportunity cost associated with being a fifth-year senior.
"The longer you're in school, not only are you spending more in terms of tuition and room and board, but you're losing the money you could be earning by working full-time," Weir said.
USC's most recent four-year graduation rate of 45.8 percent comes at the end of a steady period of improvement since reporting 29.6 percent in 1993. Still, it is a far cry from the 70.9 percent reported for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by the online database collegeresults.org.
Weir said the improvement since 1993 might have to do with better-prepared students, as evidenced by the steadily climbing average SAT score over that period. She also credits a culture shift in universities nationwide. At USC, she sees programs like the Student Success Center, which provides free supplemental instruction and peer tutoring in the Thomas Cooper Library, as possible factors in the improvement. She also credits more involved professors who care whether students pass or fail.
"When I was in school a generation ago, the whole philosophy was different," Weir said. "It was very much sink or swim."
Be the first to comment on this article!