It’s typically thought that when you go to college to get a bachelor’s degree, it takes you 4 years to get it and then you graduate and you’re done. The same idea goes with an associate’s degree, just in 2 years. But recent studies are showing that this isn’t quite the case anymore. What used to be 4 years is now being done in 5, or 6, or maybe even longer.

A study performed by Michigan’s Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI) looked at college completion rates – which is something that the federal government also tracks – and looked deeper into the college student pool, including transfer and part-time students. Their results show that as the number of years enrolled in college increase, the amount of success increases. For example, of all students who enrolled in a Michigan-based university or college in the 2009-2010 year, 35.9% graduated in four years or less with a bachelor’s degree, 57.2% in five years, and 65.5% in six. This trend also carried over to community college students.

So why is it that instead of trying to achieve our degrees in as little time as possible, we’re taking longer than normal to get them?

While there are many reasons people can think of, each one suited to someone’s personal situation, all reasons can be boiled down into two words: time and money.

First, time. This can stem off into:

• Not having enough time – college can’t simply be the only thing we worry about. You also need time for a job, family concerns, religious events, some semblance of a social life, and time to yourself, not to mention at least some sleep every night. When you add everything up, sometimes we would need more than 24 hours in a day to get everything that we want to get done completed, and sometimes something’s just got to go. Often, that choice is the one that costs the most. In this case, college.
• Scheduling conflicts – It would be nice to be able to take a bunch of classes at once and just get them over with, but unfortunately we can’t be in two places at the same time. The number of classes taken at one time is always limited by how the scheduling process works, and how many classes you can fit into one week without overlapping. When that doesn’t work, some classes have to be cut out and taken later.
• Personal matters – Life happens, and when something goes wrong, there are certain things that need to take precedence over other things. School is not something that needs to go first, nor should it be. When life throws you a curve ball, you don’t try to swing anyways. You duck to make sure you don’t get hit, and that can mean leaving something behind while you hit the dirt.

Second, money. These reasons mainly include the word ‘job’ when you’re describing them, or maybe ‘tuition’ too. Whatever the case, it’s generally a problem that college is really expensive. In Michigan, the average tuition rate per year (colleges, universities, and community colleges) is $7,608 for in-state tuition and $17,647 for out-of-state. Then you have to add in general supplies, which on average is another $1,200 a year, and where you’re going to live while you’re away at college, which can add another $11,100 on average for both on- and off-campus living. Add that all together and on average you could be spending nearly $20,000 for in-state and nearly $30,000 for out-of-state. And that’s just on average, which could mean that the college you’re actually attending could be either higher or lower than that number.

All in all, there are many reasons why college students are taking their time to earn their degrees. Thankfully, both the higher education community and CEPI understand these facts, and are trying their best to make the federal government see it, too. CEPI’s recent reports also included a separate study that incorporated other successes like completing the requirements for a certificate and four-year degree attainment. These results of comprehensive success rates were significantly higher than the prior success rates found. As Michigan Community College Association President Mike Hansen said, “This report is… an opportunity for Michigan community colleges to use data to understand more about student outcomes… the opportunity to follow student success for many years is… valuable”.

So don’t worry about taking time with your degree. Life’s hard. Don’t sweat it. Have fun.

But, you know, not too much fun, that’s probably expensive too.