Four Years: the Expectation But Not the Reality

The amount of students who graduate from typical four-year schools within the expected time frame has dropped an astonishing amount in recent years. A latest study by The Education Trust, a non-profit Washington D.C. based organization, found that less than 40% of students receive their bachelors degree within the standard four years. Most students are now graduating within six years of beginning their undergraduate degrees. CollegeResults.org, a site sponsored by The Education Trust, states that the University of West Georgia has a four-year graduation rate of just 15%, while the six-year graduation rate is 36.9%.

Many students get to college and think it will be just as easy as high school but that is not the case. In college, you are responsible for yourself. It is your job as a student to make school your number one priority. You do not have teachers reminding you to come to class and get your work done like you did in high school. College is a full time job and it is your job to make sure you succeed.

Since some freshmen think college will be just as simple and straightforward, a lot of them tend to study very little. This leads to cramming, which leads to poor grades because you are not fully retaining the information. If you start your college career this way, there is a good chance you are going to continue to cram the night before a test for the rest of your four, five or six years you are in college.

You must put work in college. You need to realize that in order to succeed, and to succeed in a short amount of time, you have to treat college as if it were your career. If someone was to walk into a real life job and expect to work just five or six hours a week, they would not have that job anymore.

A big way to help you succeed quickly, graduate on time and lower the amount of student debt you will have is to declare a major. It is typical for students to change majors, but that does not mean you should put off actually declaring one. You need to think ahead and think about future career options. Allowing nature to take its course with your future just will not cut it.

Once you declare a major, stick to it and work hard. You chose this major for a reason, whether it is because it is something you are passionate about or because you believe it will make you a lot of money. Either way, there is logic behind your choice. Do not let your time, effort and money go to waste. You, or maybe your parents, are paying for these classes. In order to succeed and start working and doing what you love, you need to do your best at every class you take.

College can be the best years of your life, but it can also be the most difficult. These are the years that prepare you for the rest of your life, that give you the proper knowledge and training to help you succeed in the real world. In order to get the national average of a four-year degree back to those four years, students need to take college seriously and work hard. You will be glad you did it in the end.

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