So I recently have been looking around and have come across quite a few sources stating most college kids are taking 5 years to graduate. This is coming as a bit of a shock for me because I already don’t have enough to go to any school for 4 years and would have to take on some debt. A whole other fifth year of tuition would be a financial catastrophe. I know I am thinking way in advance but I am doing engineering which isn’t easy so a fifth year is a possibility for even the most ambitious students.
I just don’t know how it would happen. Do you fail a whole 2 semesters worth of classes and have to make them up? That sounds ridiculous. Or is it like one class screws you over and messes with your whole schedule?
It is something that really worries me. The last thing I would want to do is pour hundreds of thousands into a college for 4 years and then have to go back for a fifth year only to not be able to afford it, then what?
This seems to me like a huge potential problem, and I was curious on how exactly something like that would happen, and how you handle it if it does.
It is fairly common for students who need to work part time to afford school to take light full time course loads (12 credits per semester instead of 15-16 credits per semester), which would take 10 semesters rather than 8 semesters to graduate (with 120 credits).
It is also fairly common for weaker students to take light full time course loads.
Some students need remedial courses which can lead to delayed graduation (e.g. an engineering major who is not ready for calculus and must take precalculus first will almost certainly graduate late). Of course, the strongest students who have useful AP credit that fulfills subject requirements have the opposite situation in gaining a beneficial buffer against the risk of late graduation.
Some students change their majors relatively late, so they need extra semesters to “catch up” in the prerequisite sequences of their new majors.
Some students are not careful in choosing courses to stay on track for their prerequisite sequences, so they end up delaying graduation. However, most engineering major degree programs provide a template that you can follow.
Yes, engineering majors often have high credit counts (more than 120 credits to fit in all of the subject requirements), so that students who have difficulty handling overloads (17+ credits per semester) may take longer.
Some students take more than 4 calendar years, but only 8 tuition-paying semesters, due to semesters off working at a co-op job or some such. But this is benign.
If you are a strong student who does not need to take remedial courses and is willing to follow your major’s schedule template (taking full schedules) and not change majors late, then your risk of needing more than 8 semesters to graduate is lower than the average. I.e. a 4.0/34 student with 5 scores in AP calculus, chemistry, English, etc. and no need to work part time while in school is rather likely to be able to finish an engineering program in 8 semesters, while a 3.0/24 student whose precalculus knowledge is shaky and needs to work part time while in school is rather likely to need more than 8 semesters.
Some colleges make it hard or impossible for students to get all the classes they need to graduate in time. Required courses for the major fill up. Or dude ta change majors. Or drop classes that aren’t going well, so don’t stay on track for 4 years.
as @ucbalumnus noted, many engineering students do co-ops (including paid ones- I know a GaTech student currently doing a co-op, for pay, at Siemens in Germany).When choosing a program, be sure to check that aspect out.
Common for engineering students & accounting majors. Also happens frequently at large state universities when required courses fill up quickly (this is one reason why Honors College/Program priority registration is important).
There is usually plenty of space available in the 8am section.
Accounting is a special case, because 150 credits (10 semesters’ worth) is a prerequisite for CPA licensing. BArch programs in architecture are another special case, being 10 semester programs normally.
If you read some threads here on CC you will see students wondering if they can do a triple major and double minor. If they don’t come to their senses they will certainly take at least 5 years to get a bachelor’s degree.
Coop students still only take 8 semesters of classes they may just to it over 4 1/2 to 5 years. There maybe a small charge for the coop to treat it as class and keep the coop student on the fools but it doesn’t affect the cost their education.
Remedial courses and immaturity. Kids are given inflated grades all through high school and graduate with no study skills and the capacity of a 9th or 10th grader. 50% of all high school seniors have an A average. Thus, more and more families misinterpret their child as university material. Universities are all too eager to take advantage with de facto open door admissions at schools outside of the top 100.
I am usually a pretty motivated student, Ga Tech is one of my top choices and I heard a lot of kids struggle there even the ones who are highly motivated and intelligent. I’m also not 100% on my major, but I would only switch around within the Engineering department if I did decide to change majors. Is a 5th year at Ga Tech a strong possibility?
If you go to GT and do the co-op program, yes it will take longer, but you’ll be earning some money during the semesters you work. It’s doable. If you change majors and get behind, you’ll need to do summer school. Just plan carefully.
Don’t worry about the averages or what other kids are doing. If you are determined to graduate in 4 years/8 semesters, you will. My daughter is graduating in 4 years in engineering. She did not have one single credit coming in from high school. She started in Calc 1, chemistry 1, physics 1. She took the classes on the suggested time line. She did drop one class and had one semester with 14 credits, so last semester had to take 19 credits. Most engineering programs require 16-18 credits per semester or 130 credits to graduate.
My nephew is also graduating in 4 years. He did need to retake a class so took one math class in the summer.
One reason not taking more semesters to graduate for my daughter is that all her FA is gone after this last semester. Athletic eligibility is gone, merit scholarship from the school is gone, merit from the state is already gone (120 credits only).
Georgiatech is a great school with great students, yet their 4-year graduation rate is under 40%… lower than all other colleges I am aware with a similar caliber of students. The primary reason why the graduation rate is so low is because Georgiatech has the largest voluntary co-op program in the United States. Having increased opportunities for co-ops is not a bad thing, even if it does decrease graduation rate. As chb088 stated, you are earning a decent wage during the co-op while gaining valuable and relevant work experience, so it would not be financially catastrophic.
Among the full national population some of the more common reasons are not following a course plan towards final major, which often relates to changing major or poor advising; changing colleges and in some cases limited transferable credit or varied course sequences, which can include starting at community college; not having enough time to take a full schedule for reasons such as jobs, sports, and family; .taking a break from college for a variety of reasons; and being unprepared for college including requiring extra courses to catch up and needing to repeat courses.
Among the well prepared students that you typically see at excellent colleges like Georgiatech, some of the more common reasons include taking less than full schedule due to internships, co-ops, TAs/RAs, and sports; pursuing multiple degrees such as co-terminal masters and double majors; and deciding on a major that requires longer course sequences late, such as most engineering fields.
Note that taking more calendar time to graduate due to doing a co-op job while not in school that semester does not increase the number of tuition-paying semesters. For example, you may graduate 9 semesters after you start, but only have 8 tuition-paying semesters in school plus 1 semester off school doing the co-op job.
Try to avoid debt if you can. You might be able to get an affordable head start on engineering by taking classes at community college and then transferring, but this would need to be checked out thoroughly because some schools have a particular sequence of classes with particular content and even many of the kids with 5’s on AP’s take the intro classes for that reason.
Or you could work and take a few classes at a time in a continuing ed/extension program.
Why do you want to do engineering? You don’t sound altogether sure. We know nothing about your high school classes or performance so it is hard to really reassure you about needing extra time.
One point, which is probably not relevant for you: if you need extra semesters because course load was reduced due to a disability (that is documented and registered with the school), financial aid should extend over that extra time on campus.
My engineering kid needed 5. 132 credits or something like that I think for graduation and did no summer classes. Started with Calc 1 because he was nervous. He did 12-16 credit hours depending on which classes which also kept his gpa high. He has dyslexia so reading and writing reports is a slow process. We were told by the uni at orientation to plan for more than 4 years and they were correct. If he had taken a summer class or two he could have done it in 4.5 but it isn’t a race and he had great paying valuable summer internships so no complaints and he is graduating with what he has wanted since he was alittle boy.