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FEATURE
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Other schools have enacted a more radical policy. All three of Arizona's state schools, for example, place a 20 percent surcharge on tuition if students have completed more than 145 credit hours and the University of Wisconsin doubles the price of tuition after 165 credit hours. Starting in 2011, students entering the University of North Carolina will have to request permission to stay longer than eight semesters.
"Our focus has been not to penalize students, but to encourage them." Roney says. In that sense, she perceives the tuition compact to be an inducement for students to graduate in four years, although she concedes it may pressure them to rush and just get done with school.
WORK + STUDY = MORE THAN FOUR
Rosenthal, history professor, is concerned with this increased pressure for students to graduate on time. He says a lot of students feel pressured to take 18 credit hours or more, when that is not necessarily a good idea. Many students can't handle such a load, especially if they are also working.
Rosenthal says he has perceived an increase in the last 10 years in the number of students working longer hours. "I don't think the institution does enough to discourage people from working and studying," he says.
Kyra Myers, Pratt senior, works approximately 35 hours per week at four jobs and is taking only 12 credit hours this semester. She's taking an extra semester to graduate because of her heavy work schedule.
Myers started working long hours after moving out of her parents' house. At first she stressed out about balancing school and work, though eventually she got used to it. But it still isn't easy. Long hours make diligent studying difficult and she feels as though she doesn't get to enjoy the full college experience like a lot of students do. "It makes me wonder what all
these kids who take 12 hours and don't work do with their free time," she says.
But Myers thinks that a heavy workload doesn't necessarily stop anyone from graduating on time, even if it proves to be difficult. It all depends on what the person is willing to give up and how much he or she plans in advance. Myers reserves some time for her social life; and she wouldn't have to work four jobs if all she wanted to do was sustain herself. "I just really like to shop," she says.
TUNING THE MESSAGE
Roney says that even though the University wants to increase its graduation rates, there are still legitimate reasons to take more than four years to graduate. Students who changed majors, such as Gordon, who are double majoring, such as Kueffer is considering, or who also work, such as Myers, are all examples. That is why the message the University is trying to pass needs to be finely tuned.
"It's a really hard message. I really don't want anyone to feel bad because they took more than four years to graduate for legitimate reasons." Roney says.
But even if the University's message is successful, it may still face larger problems in its goal to increase graduation rates. One of the points in the most recent tuition proposal submitted to the Kansas Board of Regents is that budget cuts are a threat to graduation rates. It reads that even with the new tuition rates, "students' ability to graduate on-time will be threatened by reductions in course and section offerings."
If everything goes according to what I've planned, seven months from now I should be starring at the Campanile's ceiling as I walk through its doors and head down the Hill into Memorial Stadium. There, after five years as a Jayhawk, I will officially end my career as an undergraduate student. End, that is, if all the classes I need are offered next semester — or if I'm not tempted to prolong my time as a "perpetual student." Jp
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