Posted on 12/02/2014 7:22:24 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
Of course back in the day, a lot of the young men would have been employed, in the military.
Very true. But sending them for six years to get a political science degree isn’t a good investment.
It is money to these educators.
I took 3 years for my Biology degree. I CLEP’d out of my general studies.
What I’ve noticed when I took classes after I retired (and some fellow community college students have noticed as well) is that colleges are increasingly refusing to accept credit earned elsewhere and having required classes that are offered too rarely to accommodate the students.
For example, in their paralegal program, you have to register online for required classes prior to 4AM on the day they open registration. If you try to register at 8 AM on the first day classes are offered, they will be filled.
In a math class I took, several girls said they were being forced to take language classes even after taking the language for 3 years in high school and maxing out the assessment test. The college only gave them credit for one semester of Spanish - and one of them was raised speaking Spanish at home!
The same college told me if I wanted an associate’s degree, I would have to take English composition and a course in how to use computers - even though I have a BS in Biology, an MBA, and 25 years in the military. I remember using Word 6, but the college says I need to take basic word processing. I took FORTRAN back when the university was renting computer time from a mainframe located in another state...but I need to learn about computers. I had a perfect score on their English assessment test, but I need to take English 100. Right!
My conclusion is the college is requiring students take classes so they can make more money off of them. The bottlenecks are there so students will take fluff courses while waiting to get in the required classes. They make money off of butts in seats, not by accepting credits from state universities...
plus.. the sooner you finish.. the sooner the party is over!
And your conclusion is right, too.
Isn't that an Mrs. degree?
I took classes in the fall, winter, and then two more classes in the summer of my first year. Finished my first 20 credits with a 3.85 and was admitted full-time, working toward a BS in MIS. I worked and went to school for the next three years, taking 1-2 classes every summer to "catch up" to where I should've been, had I been admitted FT at the start. Graduated with honors, and never looked back. Surprising what a student can do if they treat college like a job, rather than fun.
I got my 4 year degree in 3 and 1/2. I took the maximum course load every semester and took summer courses every summer. I could have almost completed it in three years but was a couple classes short that final semester. Looking back on it, I probably would have been better off pacing myself and taking the full 4 years as my GPA did suffer a bit because of my packed schedule (I still graduated with a 3.4).
Yes, you are right. 1 credit.
My daughter has student loans but she’s handling it. Still, she advises other to get to an in-state school and avoid debt as much as possible.
I don’t see anything wrong with this. It took me at least 6 years, but the last 3 years I was working 40 hrs. a week.
But at least I graduated with zero debt.
I also agree, schools are out to make money. Graduating students who can survive in the real world is the least of thier concerns.
BINGO!!!!
It took me 5½ years to graduate with a degree in one of the Hard Sciences. If I just took classes that pertained to my major and didn't have to take all those stupid electives/core requirements, I could have been done and out in 3 years.
Interesting points. That is my alma mater. It has been 21 years, though.
I took one summer semester just to make up time for those CORE requirements, half of which were not taken from feeder campus UMBC.
Daughter dual enrolled in state college during high school and came out with an AA at HS graduation. She is 19 and at a major University now. Could graduate this spring but is stretching it out a year because she is enjoying college so much LOL!
Same here...took 15 hours of credit my first term as a freshman, then 18 hours a term, plus summers as well. Graduated in three and-a-half years with a degree in journalism. For a full-time student (who isn’t married and/or working more than 20 hours a week), there’s no excuse for taking more than four years to finish a liberal arts degree.
On the other hand, students majoring in something more difficult (engineering, math, physics, chemistry, etc.) may need a little more time, since calculus and differential equations is a lot more difficult that the “broadcast management seminar” and “media ethics” courses I had to take.
One of the reforms that would truly benefit higher ed is linking financial aid (and student loan rates) to the demand for particular degrees. If you’re an engineering student, or majoring in IT—with a decent GPA—you’re first in line for grants and your student loan should be interest free, with complete forgiveness after a specified period working in the field. But, if you want that degree in art history, your loan rate should be somewhere around 15%. Providing a real financial incentive would bring more qualified students into fields with a future, and decrease the number of worthless degrees being awarded.
The military has done this for years with ROTC scholarships. If you’re aiming for a degree in engineering, the hard sciences or nursing, you can get the service to pay for your school. If you want a poly sci degree or something else in liberal arts, you can join the program and you probably won’t get a scholarship until you’re in the latter stages of the program.
Good for her!
That sort of thing was so bad at my college they instituted a rule that juniors and seniors who were on a path to graduate could stay on that course to graduate if the degree requirements changed.
We regularly had issues with a degree path in engineering where there were two required courses for all the juniors or seniors to take - and the professors scheduled the only offering at the same 9 AM time slot.
Another solution for some of these kids unable to graduate is expanding the school day, so that the major classes aren’t all 8-11 AM. Too many professors teach less than K-12 teachers, really only working in the morning. They need to teach more afternoon classes or evening classes.
My daughter’s alma mater provides incentive for graduating in 4 years. After 4 years, they remove your financial aid. After 5 years, they throw you out.
I took 9.5 years. Of course, I was active duty for most of that time.
I didn’t earn a degree in four years. I earned two separate BA degrees. That last quarter was a bitch, though.
Busted my tail to do it in four years, but even then I had a half-year’s worth of credits I brought with me from the military.
While working 2-3 jobs at most times. Had to skip the parties, and the Thursday/Sunday night bar sessions, and the dorm football games/bull sessions, but I got through, with less than $4,000 in debt from a private college, graduating in 1990.
It can be done, but it requires a level of sacrifice that today, few are willing to put forth.
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