More students graduating in six years

By Chris Ledermuller
Daily Forty-Niner

Two-thirds of students in the California State University system complete their bachelor's degrees within six years, according to an annual report presented to the CSU system's Board of Trustees.

"Cornerstones," the first report on academic progress at all Cal State campuses since the Board of Trustees mandated the presentations last year, presented how long full-time, part-time and "stop-out" students take to earn their degrees.

A stop out student is one who takes longer than six years to graduate because they leave higher education for an extended period of time.

Only 20 percent of freshmen graduate within the traditional four-year time frame while 86 percent of students who entered a CSU campus graduate within six years, the report said.

Ken Swisher, spokesman for the CSU Chancellor's Office, said Thursday that students have more responsibilities to juggle with classes.

"A smaller percentage of students have the opportunity to attend steadily on a full-time basis," he said. "Only a fifth of our students go full-time and are able to do it."

Sometimes students have children to nurture or jobs that prevent them from taking a full 15-unit semester class load.

Kristel Linndner, a freshman business administration major, said she can complete graduate in four years.

"School is more important than work right now," she said. "I'm not planning on staying here longer."

Dave Garrick, a senior accounting major who will finish college this year, fits the category of stop out student.

Fourteen percent of students fall under this category, according to the Cornerstones report, presented Sept. 19.

Garrick will get his bachelor's degree a decade after he graduated high school.

"I had to work full-time for two years just to get my foot in the door," he said. He added that living in Europe also kept him out of school.