One of the strengths of George Mason University is the work ethic of its students. When I first began teaching in 1975, GMU’s population of somewhat older, working students was unusual for state schools. In an era where degrees were usually attained in four years, my students jokingly referred to their pursuits as “the six-year plan.” In 2010, no longer a joke, the six-year degree has become the norm.
The U.S. Department of Education has twice sponsored longitudinal studies of new college enrollees to measure their progress over six years. The latest study, 2003 to 2009, confirms the statistics of the first study, conducted from 1995 to 2001: Students are taking longer to get degrees — only 49 percent earning associate’s or Bachelor of Arts degrees within six years of first enrollment. Of students who began in four-year institutions, 58 percent had earned degrees within six years, compared with 34 percent of students who began in two-year institutions.
The “First Look” report by the Institute of Education Sciences tracks the rate at which students complete degrees, transfer and drop out. The findings reflect the myriad paths students travel in their quests for higher education. The statistics are particularly valuable because schools cannot keep track of students who leave and later enroll in a different institution.
This simply confirms my own observations that the stereotypes of Joe and Josephine College are no more. More students are enrolling in institutions of higher learning: The rate reached 70 percent of high school graduates for the first time in 2009. In 1972 only 49 percent of high school graduates enrolled in college.
With greater student numbers and the cost of all schools far outpacing the rate of inflation, a straight line is no longer the usual path to a degree. Students often work part-time and go to school part-time, or they take full-time jobs that are expedient, and retool their skills gradually so they can pursue careers that interest them more. Students whose financial means are very limited take courses, often just one or two a semester, in hopes they can one day turn a certificate into a B.A. Students with spouses and children find time to squeeze a night or Saturday class into their busy schedules.
In short, college students are more diverse and are willing to stretch their meager budgets and scarce leisure time to walk an increasingly circuitous path to that coveted degree. Is the squiggly path less desirable than the straight line between high school graduation and college graduation?
That question is not tackled in the “First Look” report, but I think it’s a better route to an education in the broadest sense. If what we want from our institutions of higher learning is learning that really is “higher,” then time is a student’s best friend. The cliche that “education is wasted on the young” is only a cliche because it’s true. Work, family and time all work together to help students see the value in thoughtful reflection and persistence in attaining goals.
I think of the old model of college student — I include myself there — as someone with little life experience who figured out career goals after graduation. Today’s student knows that life and education need to work in tandem to shape a happy and successful future.
Erica Jacobs, whose column appears Wednesday, teaches at George Mason University. E-mail her at [email protected]
