<p>The UC rankings are pretty high, but their graduation rate are so low. They range from 55-65 percent for 4 year graduation rate. Why is that? Too many people and not enough classes? Boston University is pretty similar to the UCs but their graduation rate is 80 percent.</p>
<p>Berkeley and UCLA four year graduation rates are around 70%, which is among the highest among state universities. UCLA does claim that 81% of frosh need no more than 12 quarters of school to graduate, implying that some students take more than four calendar years, but are paying tuition for only 12 quarters (the standard number in four years) during that time – perhaps due to co-op jobs or other time off in between school quarters.</p>
<p>Boston University is expensive with not-very-good financial aid, so that provides students extra incentive to avoid taking extra semesters.</p>
<p>The “cannot get into classes needed to graduate” problem seems to be commonly claimed on these forums, but does not appear to be something that students complain about on the forums specific to the school (at least for Berkeley), although popular out-of-major electives may be hard to get.</p>
<p>Our local UC is upfront that new students expect to take an extra semester to graduate. Often it’s a matter of 1 or 2 classes they still need. Part of this is due to how heavily they encourage study abroad which is a great experience but can slow you down a bit. Partly it’s the high quantity of double majors in the UC system. And yes, part can be impacted GE classes.</p>
<p>Now, we know kids who finished in 3 years. I myself finished at a UC in 3 years (20 years ago lol.) The nice aspect of the UC system is they often give units for AP classes. They take community college credits. I believe you can still take some community college classes while enrolled (like taking a summer class at a local CC that is impacted at the UC.) If you are open to taking alternative classes that fulfill requirements but might not be as popular, then getting the GE’s in 4 years isn’t quite as difficult.</p>
<p>Four year graduation rates are not the most reliable figures for large universities. Ratings organizations and even federal law (the Student Right to Know Act) have deemed the six year graduation rate to be the more important. Why? Because there are numerous reasons why students do not graduate in 4 years but do in five and under six years, including students going to foreign countries for a semester, students doing coops, students taking a semester or two off to earn needed addiitional funds, students changing majors, students doing combined bachelors and master’s programs, some scheduling conflicts causing a need to wait to take a couple courses, students in majors such as engineering that require more total hours than other majors and usually have many students that go beyond four years. If you ever look at a university’s enrollment figures per level, you will find the “senior” class is significantly larger than the junior, sophomore or freshman class and the reason is that the “seniors” include all those students in their fifth or even sixth year. The six year graduation rates for the UCs are high (Berkeley and UCLA around 90%, SD, Davis, Irvine in the 80s; Boston U’s 6 year rate is 84%)</p>
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<p>The only semester system UCs are Berkeley (where the four year graduation rate is around 70%, so most incoming frosh will not graduate late) and Merced (the least selective UC, so it is not too surprising that many students take an extra semester due to weaker high school preparation).</p>
<p>Haha, I’m actually talking about one on the quarter system… just misspoke. This school is also high on the selectivity scale but I know some kids have had difficulty getting their classes… particularly transfer students who have lowest priority. We heard the same from a middle range third during a tour. The UC’s are great schools but they are also public universities with large populations and high double major trends.</p>