Other reasons slow graduation for some
Jamie Judkins
Issue date: 9/10/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
I was outraged when I heard about the multi-million dollar proposal to increase four-year graduation rates. Why are we spending valuable money solely to try and get students to graduate in four years? Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich called UW-Eau Claire's 26 percent four-year graduation rate "unacceptable," but are we even looking into the reasons why the national average graduation time for undergraduate students is five years?
As a current student and an intern at the university's admissions office, I know that one of the main reasons why students sometimes take an extra semester is that they are choosing to have hands-on experiences. Instead of graduating in four years with only classroom experience, students are opting to do internships and study abroad. In fact, UW-Eau Claire is one of the top universities in the nation with the highest percentage of students who participate in study abroad, with over 25 percent of our students doing so. Our career services center offers over 4,000 internships for students to choose from locally, nationally and internationally.
I personally invested my time into two professional internships and can say with few exceptions that those have been far more valuable than most of the classes I have taken. Experience makes graduates more valuable to employers, and I fear we are spending our money on something that isn't even an issue.
If students are concerned with graduating in four years, it is fully possible for them to do so; I will. But for most students, trading an extra semester or two for experience is not an issue.
I propose that we reevaluate the "importance" of charging students thousands of dollars more for something they may not even be concerned about.
As a current student and an intern at the university's admissions office, I know that one of the main reasons why students sometimes take an extra semester is that they are choosing to have hands-on experiences. Instead of graduating in four years with only classroom experience, students are opting to do internships and study abroad. In fact, UW-Eau Claire is one of the top universities in the nation with the highest percentage of students who participate in study abroad, with over 25 percent of our students doing so. Our career services center offers over 4,000 internships for students to choose from locally, nationally and internationally.
I personally invested my time into two professional internships and can say with few exceptions that those have been far more valuable than most of the classes I have taken. Experience makes graduates more valuable to employers, and I fear we are spending our money on something that isn't even an issue.
If students are concerned with graduating in four years, it is fully possible for them to do so; I will. But for most students, trading an extra semester or two for experience is not an issue.
I propose that we reevaluate the "importance" of charging students thousands of dollars more for something they may not even be concerned about.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Matt
posted 9/10/09 @ 7:38 AM CST
You can't argue both sides. You say that students are choosing extra things that delay their graduation, but then point out that you have had two internships and will still be able to graduate in 4 years. (Continued…)
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