November 22, 2009 09:07 PM UTC

A college degree in three years, as proposed by Dan Haley of the Denver Post

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• by: Awen

http://www.denverpost.com/opin…

Dan Haley of the Denver Post laments that

It now takes a staggering average of six years and seven months to earn a bachelor’s degree, according to a recent story in Newsweek.

Students are too often “interrupted by work, inconvenienced by unavailable classes or lured by one more football season,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., wrote in that Newsweek piece titled “The Three-Year Solution,” in which he promotes the creation of more three-year bachelor’s programs.

Haley signs on to Sen. Alexander’s idea of getting students through college in three years, and he adds that the reason students can’t get done in three years is because

it would be counter-productive, financially, for colleges and universities to shuttle students through school in four years or less.

While this may play a part in the situation, Haley’s proposal ignores the real reason students don’t finish in three years (or four) in this country:

According to the American Council on Education, 80 percent of undergraduates work while pursuing their degrees. The majority, and that includes students from high-income families work AT LEAST 20 hours per week. Fully 25 percent work full-time.

Today’s college students, the ACE report notes, are now made up of working class (which means WORKING, Mr. Haley) low-income and/or minority students who must work to pay for their educations.

College tuition is no longer fronted by the parents; it’s being paid for by the students, who aren’t living on trust funds like they were in Mr. Haley’s college days.

The ACE study says:

…Working students state that their primary reason for working is to pay tuition, fees, and living expenses, with upper-income students more likely to work in order to earn spending money or gain job experience.

• Research has shown that working 15 or fewer hours per week-ideally, on campus or in a position related to one’s academic interests-has a positive effect on persistence and degree completion.

Another related factor is the age of today’s college students, particularly at community colleges and places like Metro, CU-Denver and four-year colleges. I’ve seen statistics from UCD and Metro that cite an average age of around 25. That’s not a kid fresh out of high school. That’s an adult more likely than not with responsibilities like supporting himself or herself and/or a family.

I wish Mr. Haley had done even five minutes of research before writing his editorial (which is how long it took me to find the statistics from ACE). I appreciate that he could take 18 and 21 credit hours in his final year to finish in four years. That might have worked 25 or 30 years ago. It doesn’t work today.