Report: Four-year degrees are ‘myth,’ but necessary for college affordability

Taking a “victory lap” or being a “super senior” might have become commonplace, but one nonprofit is urging the return of four-year college degrees to help ensure success and to save students tens of thousands of dollars.

A new policy report from Complete College America calls the current graduation rate standards “unacceptable” and pushes for a tougher standard, saying that it would drastically improve college affordability.

Currently, graduation rates at four-year colleges are measured on a six-year time frame, and two-year community colleges are measured on three-year graduation rates.

“As lifetime savings are depleted and financial aid packages run out, the extra time on campus means even more debt, and for far too many students, additional semesters do not result in a degree or credential,” the report states.

“…We recognize that not every student can or will graduate on time. And there are understandable reasons. However, something is clearly wrong when the overwhelming majority of public colleges graduate less than 50 percent of their full-time students in four years. Current on-time graduation rates suggest that the ‘four-year degree’ and the ‘two-year degree’ have become little more than modern myths for far too many of our students. The reality is that our system of higher education costs too much, takes too long, and graduates too few.”

Only 50 of the nation’s roughly 580 public four-year institutions report that at least half of their first-time, full-time students graduate within the four-year and two-year time frames.

The report found that the overwhelming acceptance of these new standards by the public, officials, and universities has alleviated “the pressure to change.” And while inflating the graduation rates to make schools and the country’s overall higher education level look better, it is costing students.

Students are responsible for $15,933 more in cost of attendance for every extra year of a public two-year college and $22,826 for every extra year at a public four-year college, according to Complete College America. It also costs them in terms of lost wages, an estimated $35,000 for would-be associate’s degree holders and $45,327 for would-be bachelor’s degree holders.

Complete College America offers two ways to fix this. First, incentivize and demand that colleges be held accountable for four-year and two-year graduation rates. Secondly, give students a clear path through college to ensure that they get their degrees on time.