Student Voices: Time to Graduation

Freshmen 2009Seniors starting as freshmen

2009Seniors starting as transfers

2009

Samples

Sample Response Rate

Freshmen N= 389/1875 21%

Seniors starting as Freshmen N=922/2545 36%

Seniors who started as transfers N=223/1124 20%

Perceptions regarding time to graduation

Freshman Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

Graduating in 4 years or less is important to me

Very important or important____Not very important or not important at all

91%

9%

64%

36%

64%

36%

Graduating in 4 years was important to me when I began my college career

Very important or important____Not very important or not important at all

n/a

n/a

75%

25%

77%

24%

How many years to graduate?(in %)

Freshman Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

Less than 4 years 8 10 64 years 38 34 204 ½ years 28 18 145 years 20 28 255 ½ years 3 5 126 years 1 4 13Over 6 years 0 1 11I am planning to transfer to another institution and graduate from there

2 0 0

When realized it would take longer than 4 years (in %)

Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

Never expected to graduate in 4 years 18 9

Prior to transferring to UW-EC n/a 27When I transferred to UW-EC n/a 34During my first year in college at UW-EC 18 5

During my second year in college at UW-EC 30 8

During my third year in college at UW-EC 29 14

During my fourth year in college at UW-EC 4 4

4 year degree plans(as %)

Freshman Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

Does your major department have a 4 year degree plan?(FR were asked if they know about the 4 year plan)

Yes

No

FR: haven’t decided on major yetSR: I don’t know

67

11

22

64

10

26

64

5

31

If yes, have you met with an advisor to guide plan of study?

Yes 84

If yes, have you used it to help plan course of study?

Yes 86 74 60

4 year degree plans(as %)

Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

Does your 4 year degree plan include a sequence of when to take courses?

Yes

No

I don’t know

83

10

8

73

9

18Does your 4 year degree plan include info about when courses are offered?

Yes

No

I don’t know

46

35

19

48

31

21Changed majors when transferred to UWEC

n/a n/a 62

Advising influences(as %)

Indicate which of these are true for you? My advisor encourages/ed me to ….

Freshman Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

….graduate in 4 years 67 58 59

….stay in school longer than 4 years to complete additional majors/minors

12 16 19

….stay in school longer to explore and study additional areas of interest

6 8 8

….stay in school longer to complete an internship

2 6 4

….stay in school longer to do faculty/student collaborative research

3 2 4

….stay in school longer to study abroad 9 7 6

….stay in school longer to do some other outside-of-class activity

1 3 0

Advising(as %)

Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

Did you meet with an advisor during each semester during your junior and senior years?

Yes

No

I don’t know

64

34

1

73

26

1

How helpful was your advisor in planning course selections to help you graduate on time?

Very helpful

Somewhat

Not helpful

Hindered my progress

38

40

17

5

34

42

18

6

Student course choices(as %)

Students were asked if they had taken(Freshmen were also asked about planning to take…) the following courses

Freshman Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

…additional courses for personal interest, knowing they will not count toward degree requirements

42 43 40

…additional courses for career preparation, knowing they will not count toward degree requirements

46 37 28

…courses to maintain eligibility to athletics, financial aid, veteran's benefits, insurance benefits, etc.

7 18 21

….repeat a course to improve GPA 8 22 20

Student course experiences (as %)

Students indicated they had experienced (SR responses indicate that this experience delayed their graduation):

Freshman Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

….all sections of a course to meet degree requirement (major/minor/GE) were closed

47 16 21

….only section of required course that would fit into my schedule was closed

48 10 13

….prerequisite for required course was closed 17 9 10

….required course was not offered the semester I needed to take it

13 16 22

….time conflict between two required courses 41 8 (2 or more semesters)

11(2 or more semesters)

….course conflicted with work schedule 7 3 6

….course conflicted with family commitments 1 1 3

….course conflicted with athletic activity commitment

6 1 0

…..course conflicted with music activity commitment

7 2 1

Student perceptions on factors extending time to graduation (as %)

Students endorsed all items that they perceived would or did extend time to degree. Full load = 15 credits

Freshman Seniors starting as FR

Senior Transfers

Need to work impacted taking a full load each semester

12 33 35

Family obligations impacted taking a full load each semester

1 8 14

Personal reasons impacted taking a full load each semester

11 14 19

Only took courses at convenient times, even if could take at other times

13 18 18

Degree program can’t be completed in four years 24 26 11

Want to maintain a high GPA so take fewer courses each semester

33 21 21

Study abroad 54 21 8

Completing an internship 33 10 6

Transferred courses from another institution that did not count toward requirements

n/a 21 74

Transfer courses not countingtoward degree (as %)

Seniors starting as Freshmen

Seniors who started as transfers

1-2 courses 58 39

3-5 courses 48 42

6+ courses 12 19