Is the four-year plan for college still a reasonable goal for most students?
These days, it seems like more students are taking more than the traditional eight semesters to graduate. Five and six year college careers - before graduate school - are not as rare as they once were.

In its 2009 Almanac, The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported that only 59.8 percent of college students in Illinois graduate at all, which is slightly better than the reported national average of 57.3 percent.

“It is still possible to graduate in four years and almost all of our majors are designed to do so,” said Director of Admissions Bob Burk. “We find that more than 90 percent of students who graduate from NIU take four years plus one additional semester to finish.”

Students may not graduate within the traditional four years for a number of reasons, Burk said. For example, if a student does not take 15 credit hours per semester or tries to self-advise as opposed to building their schedules with the help of academic advisors, they may find themselves a few credits shy come senior year.

“I don’t think [graduating in] four years is as feasible,” said senior English major Kristi Lambert. “Depending on their minor, their major, whether or not they have a double major, things like that.”
Some might be quick to attribute less-than-desirable graduation rates on the economy, but Burk said that may not be the case.

“Because of the economic downturn and the guaranteed tuition rate for NIU students, I expect our graduating rate to increase,” Burk said.

Students who change their majors often are also less likely to graduate on time, as prerequisites for different majors may require students to “backtrack” and take lower level classes.
“Yeah, I think it’s possible [to graduate in four years],” said junior nursing major Grace Sianghio. “If they don’t, I think it probably has to do with whether or not they’ve made up their mind about their major.”

Most majors can be completed with 120 credit hours, which is the minimum required by the university for graduation, but some majors may require more.
“My boyfriend is an engineering major,” Lambert said. “They basically told him it would take him five years.”

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